A mid 19th century French made dagger for export. The hilt moulded of celluloid (slight crack at the bottom) with a devils face and scrolling leaves, the spear-point double edged 5 inch blade with a central ridge and, with the tang, forged from one piece of metal, the sheath (with a crack along either side) also of moulded celluloid and decorated on one side en-suite with the hilt. Overall 9½ inches. #7319mlo
Made for the South American market in France from the newly discovered product called celluloid as it resembled I???Y and was obviously cheaper to manufacture.
Generally regarded to be the first thermoplastic, it was first created as Parkesine in 1856 and as Xylonite in 1869 before being registered as Celluloid in 1870. Celluloid is easily moulded and shaped, and it was first widely used as an i???y replacement