Germany, Kriegsmarine. An Officer’s Dress Dagger, by Carl Eickhorn

(Kriegsmarine Offiziersdolch). A very well-preserved Kriegsmarine Officer’s dress dagger, measuring 415 mm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 250 mm-long magnetic metal blade with a sharpened tip and unsharpened edges. Each side of the blade has dual central fullers, and is acid-etched with intricate designs consisting of a central fouled anchor with serpentine and floral symbols. The reverse ricasso bears a maker’s mark of “ORIGINAL EICKHORN, SOLINGEN”, circumscribing the firm’s logo of a squirrel clutching a sword. The blade sits securely within a bronze upper crossguard, with rounded and ribbed quillons, bearing central raised fouled anchors on both the obverse and reverse. A functional push button on the reverse of the crossguard connects to a spring clip emanating from the blade, locking the dagger within its scabbard during storage. The handle grip consists of polished and ribbed white celluloid, neatly wrapped with twisted and rolled copper wire. It completes with a pommel consisting of a stylized German national eagle perched on top of a wreathed mobile swastika, constructed of bronze. The dagger is accompanied by its period original scabbard, constructed bronze, with its shaft bearing etched designs. Dual integrated oak leaf bands are set around the lower third of the scabbard, each bearing a loop for the accommodation of a dagger hanger. A portepee is tied through the loops, itself constructed of multiple rows of twisted and rolled silver aluminum wire, completing in a stylized acorn. The throat is held together by dual side rivets, and works in concert with the aforementioned spring catch on the dagger. While well-preserved, the dagger displays some issues consistent with age and use, including running marks on the blade, two cracks to the handle grip, and some tarnishing of the bronze features. It is in an overall better than very fine condition.