A recent acquisition an early J.A. Henckels Slant grip army. While the blade is extremely spotty fortunately it is full length and has no pitting or rust issues some crossgrain remains under the smudged surfaces. Fortunately the rest of the dagger is very nice. The crossguard is superb the hand work is some of the best you will see on any army of the period. The breast has the punched triangular pattern - really a great look and no doubt tediously applied by a skilled craftsman one triangle/punch at a time. The pommel is interesting as it has little circular acorns punched around the circumference separating the leaves. I have a good friend (VB) who has a beautiful Henckels if you compare the hand work they are identical the three hand accents to the head the triangle breast pattern even the style and thickness of the hand work that mimics the feather pattern of the wings as well as the little circular acorns punched into the pommel between the leaves. The grip ferrule and scabbard appear identical as well. I have often wondered when you see work almost identical like this if it was carried out by the same craftsman or if the company craftsman’s followed a certain artistic technique dictated by management. This dagger was brought back with some early brass based hangers and a sport shirt eagle amazing the grouping still remains together. I am still doing some comparing but I know some people believe Henckels and Gebruder Heller had a unique crossguard I am leaning toward a heavily enhanced Pack 1st I would like to hear some comments regarding this issue from the army guys.

Tom,
Gorgeous piece and patina, the fittings are still very well defined and the intricate handwork is exquisite. The blade condition would not bother me personally in the slightest as this is a tough maker to find with the earliest Pack parts. I would hazard a guess that there is every possibility that yours and VB's where chiseled by the same hand.
As for the unique crossguard.....not for me, I think they all started out as 1st Packs and each company added their own artistic enhancements. Some to the extreme.
A trick that I still use today on daggers that have been heavily enhanced, disguising the origins of the base crossguard is to view it from about 3-4 foot away ( dependant on your eyesight ) so the enhancing does not affect your judgement....you will be suprised how often your first impression is the right one!.
Glorious dagger and one that I would have added in a heart beat,
Congrats.

p.s Is the tang numbered?

Congratulations, Tom.

What a great collection of slants you have!

John

Boy what a sweet patina!! The hand work to the Pack 1st guard ( yea, that is my opinion to ) is just wonderful. I hope my iPad is downloading all your pics because I don't see one of that very interesting pommel you speak of! Like to see that. Congrats on another awesome slant Tom! I would have that baby in a minute! Kevin.

Thanks Guys
John Z – I am certainly going to miss you at the max this year.
Jon - Nice to see you’re still alive and well have missed you on the forums. I hope VB can post a picture of his it’s uncanny how similar the hand work details are. Yes we all wish for minty blades but sometimes we have to look past these things. Jon I will have to look at the tang I didn’t notice a number but then again I was not looking for one have you seen some of these that are numbered?
Kevin - Thanks I will put up a picture of the pommel.

Pommel detail – Not a crisp picture I cropped it out of another image but you can make out the little circles representing acorns.

Lovely brass base to the fittings as well, forgot to mention that earlier. A sign of really early quality as you already know .
Yes, have pictures of a slant Henckels on file ( may very well be VB's Henckels pre-purchase ) with huge "19" numbering to the blade tang.
Great touch with the acorn spacers to the pommel detail, some early Wingen pommels also have a similar addition.

A piece like this is highly desirable in any condition such is the rarity. I doubted to ever see another quite like this but now there are two of what must have surely been a very limited production.

Degens is correct that the example I have is numbered 19 so others may yet turn up!

Stunning dagger IMO and of course the photographs to do it justice!

Fillet steak and daggers are best appreciated rare

VB Thank you - I will take another peek at mine to see if its numbered. Could you please post a pic of your beautiful example for us to gander at.

Tom the one I have has suffered from poor storage and not comparable in my honest opinion but like I said collectable in any condition.

I had forgotten about johnny V`s so that makes 3 we know of.

here is the link to a previous post

http://phpstack-500133-1583587.cloudwaysapps.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=21641&page=1

VB personally I think your Henckels is a nicer dagger. I took another peek at mine and it is not numbered I did notice it has a really thick leather blade washer like yours.

I too managed to add a Henckels to my collection last year. It is a very well made dagger, with lots of hand enhancing to the brass based guard. The blade is nice, but has some very light sharpening on one edge, unfortunately. I have not had it apart, so do not know about numbering.
Wolfgang

That is a beauty Wolfgang!! Kevin.

Wolfgang real nice Henckels !

I guess the one I picked up is the poor mans version without the hand enhancements.
Best Wishes,
Bob

Bob that certainly is an unusual example. First I have seen with Alcoso fittings and the maker mark is one I have only seen on 2nd model Luftwaffe blades. I can say Henckels did use Alcoso fittings on some 2nd model Luftwaffe’s but this is a new configuration for me on an army. Looking forward to opinions from other heer collectors.

Very interesting piece Bob, as Tom says, I haven't seen this combo of Alcoso Heer fittings and Henckels blade but it does make sense as Henckels used Alcoso fittings, totally unaltered on mid period Luft 2nds..I had one! Must say this is a rare variation if original..lets hear from someone else that has one...Kevin.

Kevin thanks for the input - Well following my theory this mark is seen on 2nd lufts (1937) that would put this dagger in that time frame so it could be a later period Henckels Army? Or something else. Guess for a maker mark collector it would hold more interest then to us crossguard and slant guys.