100 year old hand-crafted Abyssinian tribesman`s knife with leather sheath

This exquisite tribesmans knife, oneof thousands confiscated from Abyssinian tribesmen by the Italian army afterthe conquest of that country in 1935, as part of the pacification process.

 The SouthAfrican army took possession of these and other weapons after the surrender ofthe Italian forces in 1940.

 Theywere shipped to the South Africa after WW11.  I acquired 16 such knivesfrom a friend in 1993.

 Iestimate them to be at least 100 years old, assuming that they were already  quite old when they were confiscated by theItalians 76 years ago.