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

(Heer Dolch für Offiziere). A well-preserved Heer Officer’s dress dagger, measuring 39.5 cm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 26.5 cm-long, nickel-plated, magnetic steel blade with a sharpened tip. The reverse ricasso bears a maker’s mark of “ORIGINAL EICKHORN, SOLINGEN”, circumscribing the firm’s classic logo of a squirrel clutching a sword. It sits securely within a nickel-silver crossguard, the obverse of which bears a raised Wehrmacht eagle clutching a wreathed mobile swastika, with the seam covered by an intact black leather buffer pad. The handle grip consists of a single piece of ribbed orange celluloid. It competes with a flattened and rounded nickel-silver pommel, bearing raised oak leaves around the outer circumference, which screws in to maintain the dagger’s structural integrity. Accompanying the dagger is its original scabbard, constructed of a nickel-plated magnetic metal shaft with a pebbled exterior. Two integral oak leaves bands are fixed in place at the upper third of the shaft and retain loops for the accommodation of a hanger. A functional spring catch within the throat firmly holds the dagger in place during storage. Issues consistent with age and wear are evident, and include moderate pitting and tarnishing of the blade, with minor loss of nickel plating to the scabbard. The dagger remains in an overall near extremely fine condition.