Vintage Decoratively Engraved Spanish Toledo Main-Gauche Type Parrying Dagger with Elaborate Brass Reliefs on Guard and Pommel

A VINTAGE MID TWENTIETH CENTURY SPANISH TOLEDO MAIN-GAUCHE PARRYING DAGGER OR DOUBLE EDGED SHORT SWORD. WITH WOODEN HANDLE, ELABORATE BRASS RELIEFS ON ITS GUARD AND POMMEL AND DECORATIELY ENGRAVED BLADE. MADE IN SPAIN TOLEDO ENGRAVED ON ONE SIDE OF BLADE AND MADE IN SPAIN ENGRAVED ON OTHER SIDE OF BLADE.
 
This is a contemporary Toledo, Spain, Main-Gauche Parrying Dagger. With beautifully engraved blades. It would have been a high quality tourist or souvenir item of the mid twentieth century. The blades are dull but tapered in edge shape so it should be able to sharpen them if buyer is so inclined.

A Main-Gauche (French for left hand) dagger is a type of elaborately decorated dagger of the 16th and 17th centuries, held in the left hand in dueling and used to parry the sword or dagger of an opponent. As the name implies they were designed to parry or defend, more effectively than a simple dagger. It typically incorporating a wider guard often elaborately decorated. The use of this off-hand weapon gradually fell out of favor as sword fighting evolved into the modern sport of fencing. The main-gauche was used mainly to assist in defense by parrying enemy thrusts, while the dominant hand wielded a longer weapon intended for one-handed use.
 
MARKINGS:
MADE IN SPAIN ENGRAVED ON ONE SIDE OF BLADE
MADE IN SPAIN TOLEDO ENGRAVED ON OTHER SIDE OF BLADE
 
SIZE: BLADE LENGTH 35CM OVERALL LENGTH 49CM GUARD WIDTH 8CM
 
CONDITION: SOME STAINS AND SCRAPES ON THE BLADE. BRASS APPEARS TO HAVE AGED PATINA. ENGRAVINGS STILL CLEAR. A SMALL TIP OF BLADE EDGE MISSING BUT HARDLY NOTICABLE AT A DISTANCE.
 
FAMOUS TOLEDO SWORDS AND DAGGERS:
According to history, more than two thousand years ago, the blacksmiths of Toledo began forging falcatas, a deadly daggerlike short sword weapon which in the hands of the soldiers of Hispania, was specially designed to make the wounds inflicted more fatal. Hannibal famously chose this type of weapon for his army.
The quality of Toledo steel resides in the skill of the artisans and the secret way it is tempered, ascribed to the waters of the Tagus River, where this process took place. The high temperature of the tempering process and the quality of the steel made the swords of Toledo unique and reknowned the world over.
The extraordinary strength of these pieces and their exquisite hilts won over some of the most important figures in history amongst the many Roman emperors placing these beautiful weapons among their most prized possessions.
Toledo soon emerged as the greatest sword-making centre in the world. The technique used for the Toledo sword had a soul of iron, consisting of a steel blade that concealed a wrought iron strip inside it, thus preventing the steel from bending or cracking.
When swords began to be replaced with firearms, Charles III created the Royal National Factory of Weapons in 1761 to protect this art form by bringing together all the master artisans and safeguarding this industry.
During the middle twentieth century Toledo became known for high quality tourist daggers and sword which could be bought in the street. Made by skilled artisans using ancient techniques.
These days, however, the longstanding tradition of swordmaking in the Spanish city of Toledo has dwindled to just two artisan swordmakers the last living link to a tradition that stretches back millennia.
 
PLEASE ALSO SEE MY OTHER ITEMS LISTED. I HAVE VARIOUS OTHER DAGGERS AND KNIVES ON AUCTION THIS WEEK. COPY THE URL UNDERNEATH AND PASTE INTO GOOGLE AND IT WILL TAKE YOU DIRECTLY TO ALL MY LISTINGS THIS WEEK. NOTE ALL MY AUCTIONS END AT 22H30 SO IT IS ADVISABLE TO PUT IN AN AUTOMATIC BID (HIGHEST PRICE YOU ARE WILLING TO PAY) EARLY.
https://www.bidorbuy.co.za/seller/3685641/ErnRex1545