Germany, Kriegsmarine. An Officer’s Dress Dagger, by Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie

(Kriegsmarine Dolch für Offizier). A Kriegsmarine Officer’s dress dagger, measuring 42 cm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 25 cm-long, nickel-plated, magnetic steel blade with a sharpened tip and edges. Dual narrow fullers run approximately two-thirds of the length of each side of the blade. It bears double-sided acid-etched designs consisting of central fouled anchors flanked by arabesque and serpentine imagery. The reverse ricasso is maker marked with the logo of Weyersberg, Kirschbaum and Cie, Solingen. The blade sits securely within a gilded bronze crossguard, bearing double-sided central fouled anchors, with the seam covered by an intact maroon wool buffer pad. Inset into the obverse of the crossguard is a functional push-button spring release connecting to a clip emanating from the ricasso. The handle grip is composed of a single piece of ribbed white celluloid, with the ribbing retaining an original twisted and rolled bronze wire cord. It completes with a gilded bronze pommel consisting of a German national eagle perched on top of a wreathed mobile swastika, screwing in to maintain the dagger’s structural integrity. It is accompanied by its original scabbard, constructed of a gilded bronze shaft bearing etched designs around the outer circumference. The upper third of the shaft has two integral oak leaf bands with loops for the accommodation of a hanger. The throat retains a functional catch to lock onto the blade’s clip. Issues consistent with age and use are evident, and include some running marks to the blade, cracking throughout the handle grip with some additional chipping, and minor tarnishing of the bronze fixtures. It remains in a very fine condition.