Germany, Kriegsmarine. An Officer’s Dress Dagger, by Clemen & Jung

(Kriegsmarine Dolch für Offiziere). A Kriegsmarine Officer’s dress dagger, measuring 42 cm in total length when inserted into the scabbard. It features a 25 cm-long, nickel-plated, magnetic steel blade with a sharpened tip and dual narrow fullers running the majority of the length of each side. The blade bears double-sided, acid-etched designs consisting of fouled anchors flanked by serpentine and arabesque imagery. The reverse ricasso features a maker’s mark of “CLEMEN & JUNG, SOLINGEN” circumscribing the firm’s logo. It sits securely within a gilded bronze crossguard, featuring double-sided central fouled anchors, with the seam covered by an intact brown wool buffer pad. Inset into the reverse of the crossguard is a functional push-button release connecting to a clip which emanates from the ricasso to lock onto the scabbard’s clip. The handle grip is composed of a single piece of ribbed off-white celluloid, with the ribbon retaining a twisted and rolled bronze wire cord. The dagger completes with a gilded pommel in the form of a German national eagle perched on top of a wreathed mobile swastika, screwing in to maintain the dagger’s structural integrity. Wrapped around the crossguard and pommel is a period portepee, consisting of a stylized silver aluminum wire acorn suspended from a strap of identical construction. Accompanying the dagger is its original scabbard, constructed of a gilded bronze shaft with etched imagery distributed around the outer circumference. The upper third of the shaft has two integral oak leaf bands retaining loops for the accommodation of a hanger. The throat features a functional catch to lock onto the blade’s clip, Minor issues consistent with age and wear are evident, and include minor running marks to the blade, the loss of the push-button’s head, and some tarnishing of the bronze elements. The dagger remains in a better than very fine condition.