Can you tell me about this knife?

[SusanR]

Hello! This knife belonged to my father in law. My husband thinks it was originally his and probably dates to c1930s, but I think it is much older than that, perhaps once belonging to my husband's grandfather (an avid hunter) and is more likely 19th century. The blade is 3 1/2" long. Would love any info... in addition to how old it is, what it may have been used for. Thanks for looking!

 

[tltt]

Tuareg arm dagger, more on the Tuareg people here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg_people . You're missing the arm band that goes around the bicep, but these break off sometimes. 1930's is a good guess, but so is 19th century, the problem is that these were made for a long period of time with little change. I'd be leery of anyone who'd give you a very narrow date on it just by picture.

Perhaps you can use the wiki article, plus family history to figure out when someone could've been in a certain area, and had a chance to acquire it.

 

[SusanR]

ohhhhhhh thank you so much! I didn't know where to start and this is terrific.