German Army Officers Dress Dagger with Double Etched Blade by E & F HORSTER

Here on offer is a fine example of a German Officers dress dagger with double etched blade by E & F HORSTER, complete with its silver Portepee.

There is a huge amount of debate about “etched blades” as to whether various examples where WW2 era or post WW2.

I personally take the guidance from Thomas Wittmann’s reference books. On page 139 of his book “Exploring the Dress Daggers of the German Army” his view is that this particular design of a right facing eagle WITH the leaf sprigs below is a genuine period design. The photo he shows is an ultra-rare example by Eickhorn. So it is possible that E & F Horster also produced this version BUT so few where made the majority you will find will have been produced after WW2.

Therefore as I can’t prove exactly when this blade was engraved, I am listing it as a genuine WW2 German Army dagger with a post WW2 engraved blade.

The dagger is in excellent to near mint condition with a thick silver-plating finish to all the mounts and fittings, including the scabbard, which has minimal loss of plating.

The 14 oak leaf pattern Pommel is in near mint condition, showing quality hand finishing to the oak leaves.

The Grip is a beautiful ivory coloured solid trolon/celluloid type, in excellent condition, no cracks or chips. There is just some very slight rubbing to the finish on the reverse, which is hard to see.

The near mint spread winged Army Eagle crossguard retains all its crisp detailing and no loss of plating. The reverse is smooth and still has all its plating in place.

The ferrule has the finely detailed oak leaf design.

The richly nickel-plated Double Engraved Blade measures 10.2” (25.8cm) in length and is in truly excellent to near mint condition with just the slightest light grey marks near the tip.

The blade has been etched with beautiful arabesque motifs on both sides. On the obverse is a central frosted panel that features a finely detailed spread winged Army Eagle in the centre.

The original factory background frosting is in place and there is no lifting or nicks to the edges.

The blade is complete with its dark brown leather buffer pad.

On the reverse it has a ‘crisp’ oval E & F HOSTER makers trademark.

The silver-plated metal Scabbard is dent free and again in excellent condition. It still retains most of the dark background finish to the raised stippling.

There is some very slight loss of plating to the reverse lower section, but I am being picky.

The throat is held in place by one headless screw on reverse.

The correct length silver finished Portepee is in excellent condition with some slight darkening to the silver finish and is correctly tied in place on the dagger.

In my opinion the blade on this dagger is truly a work of art and the dagger would make a great addition to any Army collection.

The dagger in the scabbard measures a total of 15.6” (39.5cm) long and weighs about 380g.

Please see my pictures for the details of the condition, which complement this description.

Please see my TERMS OF BUSINESS regarding Deliver Charges and Insurance regarding additional insurance cover, should you require it, BEFORE the item is dispatched.

The responsibility lies with the customer to check with your Customs restrictions that this item can be imported into your country.

Code: 50560