This is the French navy bayonet for the Kropatchek rifle, unique to the French navy. Typically this is the kind of item which France would have sold off to its local allies in South East Asia, when the Lebel rifle replaced this outmoded black powder weapon in 1886.
It has obviously had a very hard life; the scabbard springs are extremely weak and the scabbard itself shows signs of age wear and patination. The rivets have been replaced with some local concoction consisting, in at least one case, of a commercially made, cross-hatched headed iron nail! The grips have, in all probability, been replaced with local South East Asian hardwood. The weapon appears to have Cambodian or Thai (?) arsenal marks punched into the forte (a little eye with an eyebrow punched twice into one side of the forte of the blade). A rare bayonet, but, sadly, with a very rough life history, hence the price. For the fantasist, this is something straight out of Conrad!
If you want to comment on this item—re quality, age, etc—please email me.
[Edged Weapons : Bayonets : French : 19th Century]
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