Questionable Engraving?

[Geoff Ward]

Hello All I hope you are all doing well and staying calm during this season. I may have an opportunity to purchase this 33 pattern SS if I can get the price within reason it has been abused but may be worth a restoration. I have not seen this style of engraving before as the font seems a bit odd to me?? I would love some feedback good or bad as Although it seems a bit odd the rest of the dagger appears Legit?? All comments welcome,

Geoff

[Stevade]

Hi Geoff .... The first thing you are going to need is a lot more pictures of the said dagger!

[rbminis]

The engraving is hand done by a trained engraver.
IMO, it is entirely possible for the time.
Compare with the font on some of the annexation medals.
Cased Medaille zur Erinnerung an den 1. Oktober 1938 with Prague Bar
Ralph.

[Stevade]

Hi Geoff ... Sorry must of mis-read ...,I thought it was the whole dagger you were asking opinions about ... Sorry!
Not sure with the engraving.

[Larry C]

The engraving does have its possibilities but connecting " Reichs Master Craftsman " to the SS is questionable.
Any provenance on the dagger itself Geoff ?

Photos of the rest of the dagger including the producer would be helpful with connecting answers.
More eyes and thoughts are needed as ,.. in these current times with dagger engravings of mottos and numbers are questionable until proven otherwise.

More photos of the rest of the dagger please

Regards Larry

[Frogprince]

The engraving does have its possibilities but connecting " Reichs Master Craftsman " to the SS is questionable.
Any provenance on the dagger itself Geoff ?

Photos of the rest of the dagger including the producer would be helpful with connecting answers.
More eyes and thoughts are needed as ,.. in these current times with dagger engravings of mottos and numbers are questionable until proven otherwise.

More photos of the rest of the dagger please

Regards Larry

I'm having the same thoughts and questions. More information needed. Best Regards, Fred

[Frogprince]

After a reappraisal on another device with a larger screen a first request would be some high definition pictures of the lettering. The engraving perhaps not as expert as could be expected, the upper two letter "S" characters appear to be noticeably smaller, and there are some other things that may be not what you might ordinarily expect. Best Regards, Fred

[Frogprince]

At the moment there’s no additional new information on the dagger - but as the unique engraving by itself is interesting is there anything else that can be looked at? The image here shows some forceful removing and replacing of the scabbard screws and some damage/scratches that look they were probably there when the scabbard was engraved. And that it’s not (IMO) the work of a master engraver. (Noting that it’s something that’s hard to tell without a really, really, close look at the tool and wear/damage marks.) And what or who is a “REICHS-HANDWERKS-MEISTER” ?? As it turns out there were three of them from January of 1934 to May of 1945. Given that the scabbard has a nickel silver upper fitting, the most probable individual would have been a WW1 veteran who became a businessman/master plumber that was active in politics. Who also became a member of a relatively large number of groups - with one of them being the SS in 1931. In 1936 a series of events began that saw him resign as Reichshandwerksmeister, and forced him to take a leave of absence from the SS. In 1938 he died. Best Regards, Fred

[Geoff Ward]

Thank you all for your kind responses I will try to get to get some better photos this weekend.

Regards, Geoff

[Frogprince]

Geoff, More information, pictures etc. would be appreciated.

As for Larry's comments - posted below them I have some additional questions/observations.

The engraving does have its possibilities but connecting " Reichs Master Craftsman " to the SS is questionable.
Any provenance on the dagger itself Geoff?

Photos of the rest of the dagger including the producer would be helpful with connecting answers.
More eyes and thoughts are needed as ,.. in these current times with dagger engravings of mottos and numbers are questionable until proven otherwise.

More photos of the rest of the dagger please

Regards Larry

That's the really puzzling thing because a master (plumbing) craftsman as a part of a trade association (or cluster of associations) with what amounts to a functional, (and/or) honorary title as a leader of same does not really fit into the structure of the SS. And with the financial assets that he almost certainly had access to why couldn't he afford to have a professional engraver easily engrave the few lines on the upper mount for a nominal amount in an economically depressed Germany?? Or better yet as a "freebie" either from someone in the trades, or because of his political connections??? Best Regards, Fred