Germany, Luftwaffe. An Officer’s Dress Dagger, Relic Condition, By Anton Wingen Jr.

(Luftwaffe Offiziersdolch). A Luftwaffe Officer’s dress dagger, measuring 42.5 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 and edges. The blade is plain with the exception of stamped maker’s mark on the reverse ricasso reading “A.W. JR., SOLINGEN” for the firm of Anton Wingen, Jr., circumscribing the company’s knight logo. It sits securely within a silvered zink alloy upper crossguard, the obverse of which bears a raised Luftwaffe eagle clutching a mobile swastika, with the seam covered by an intact black leather buffer pad. The handle grip is composed of a single piece of ribbed white celluloid, with the ribbing retaining a twisted and rolled bronze wire cord. It completes with a rounded pommel featuring a double-sided wreathed mobile swastika, screwing in to maintain the dagger’s structural integrity. It is accompanied by its matching scabbard, constructed of a pebbled magnetic metal shaft with raised oak leaf designs near the tip. The upper third of the shaft features two integral oak leaf bands retaining loops for the accommodation of a hanger. The latter is included and consists of two partially-intact field-grey doeskin straps topped by silver aluminum wire tresses, retaining a zink spring catch, with one strap missing its catch rendering regular uniform wear impossible. Issues consistent with age and repair are evident, and include some tarnishing and running marks to the blade, oxidation and loss of finished to the zink alloy features, the replacement of the handle ring with a heavily-oxidized and ill-fitted fixture, scratching of the handle grip, oxidation of the blade, and extensive deterioration of the hanger. A relic example in fair condition.