Gentlemen,

hard to find a dagger which was worn from the Imperial time until the times of the Kriegsmarine.

Here is one. Early WKC maker mark and the retailer mark from Georg Bartling & S�hne.

The dagger was slightly shortened, scabbard as well. This artefact started his life as a 1890 cadet dagger and was equipped with the 1938 pattern eagle pommel after 1938. The Portepee sits there since that time, showing nice traces of wear, one can not remove it w/o touching the Patina.

I know this dagger since more than one decade, happily I was able to purchase it now. There is probably an interesting story behind, which has to be researched.

Thanks for looking.

Best;
Flyingdutchman

Hi Hermann.

Very nice dagger and amazing pictures. That all we can always see
with a brand from Flyingdutchman. Many thanks for sharing.

Best, Oleg.

SUPER condition, patina, beautiful Ivory and that blade!! CONGRATS!! Kevin.

Kevin,
yeah, blade up is nice, indeed. M+D marked on the tang, representing the famous German smith Max Dinger who died in 1910.

Typical for his blades are the 'shoulders' between ricasso and blade, as well as the very elegantly and thin forged ends of the blades.

Best;
Hermann

Hermann,
All the telltale signs of a cadet dagger updated to officer configuration and later to a 38' pattern. The early blade locking mechanism, M+D marked and cut-down blade, cut-down scabbard and later added all silver bullion portepee and '38' pommel. It was clearly carried for a long time as evidenced by the swing wear on the scabbard ring lugs. Beautifully conditioned for its age.
I agree with your characterization of the Max Dinger blades. Extremely thin and very elegantly made. A cut above the rest IMO. (No pun intended). Thanks for sharing and congratulations for finally landing this wonderful piece.
Kindest regards, Rick

What a wonderful piece! There is so much of interest and a lot of history with such daggers. I would simply love something like this for myself but rarely see daggers of this vintage and only on big dealer sites with equally big prices.

Thanks for showing this Hermann. Damascus blades are something else!