SS dagger Boker with nicotine patina
Hello. Today I came across a Boker SS dagger that is up for auction. At first glance it looks like a nice untouched Boker, but I have no experience with the nicotine patina. I don't know how this patina is obtained and if it can be imitated in any way. Also, many photos, documents and books of its owner have been added to this dagger. I see no evidence that the dagger belonged to the person in the photos.
Is it worth bidding on this dagger? What is your opinion?
Thanks Aleks
Nice untouched Boker with first type logo.
That is a ton of nicotine on the fittings.
I agree that the photos do not connect the dagger to the officer...more provenance would be need to prove that where the dagger and photos were originally found.
Regards Larry
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!!- Larry C
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
Thanks for the quick reply Larry.
The description of the dagger only says that the photos are of the owner and his family. The dagger has no number. The current owner probably wants to sell the photos as well.
The logo is indeed of the rarer first type.
Does this patina need to be cleaned or is it better left untouched?
Aleks
The nicotine patinated daggers I have seen usually have the patina on the obverse side of the fittings... not so much on the reverse. This is because the dagger was typically hanging on a wall; the obverse facing out and the reverse against the wall. This dagger has heavy patina on both sides. Makes me wonder how that would happen and just how much smoke it would take. Perhaps it was suspended by the carrying ring so the smoke would envelope the entire dagger(?) The only environment that could possibly be that smoky would be a pub/tavern.
If this is indeed nicotine patina I would never clean it.
Leave the nicotine patina on there ...which proves if you ever sell it...that IT IS untouched and unmessed with.
its also difficult to prove one way or another if the dagger and the officer in the photos belong to each other.
Its a nice novelty ...but anyone can marry period photos with a dagger and say it belongs.
Im not saying this is the case ...but currently there is no provenance that proves the dagger belongs.
It may very well belong...but how do we know.
Separately the dagger and photos are period authentic.
Regards Larry
It is not the size of a Collection in History that matters......Its the size of your Passion for it!!
One never knows what tree roots push to the surface of what laid buried before the tree was planted - Larry C
“The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” - Winston Churchill
Hello.
Here's another dagger with a nicotine patina on both sides. This dagger also looks good and untouched. This dagger is not SS, but I am uploading it because of the patina. Both daggers show a dense patina on both sides. If the dagger had been attached to the carrying ring there would be areas without patina on the carrying ring.
It is possible that they invented a technology for quickly smoking, for example, in a chamber for smoking meat.
A few days ago I also made a thread about the Boker SS dagger and looked at many examples.
I think this is a correct example, unless that patina is hiding something.
Regards Georgi.
To me there is a line between nicotine and patina.
I very much like patina on a dagger, and i will never remove that.
But nicotine tarnish created by years of smoking by the Vet has imo nothing to do with aged fittings....
I dont see nicotine as a patina, more like contaminated and i always removed it with WD40.
I dislike the feeling of picking up a dagger and get sticky fingers...... just my personal opinion.
Ger
Last edited by gerrit; 03-18-2024 at 11:50 AM.
I would use propanol rather than WD40 to remove nicotine. The photos look original but would be useful to examine them in more detail if I was bidding on this collection.
Well propnol is an alcohol, and alcohol can be aggresive to paint, lots of SS daggers have dyed grips instead of ebony, so i never take any risk.
I have cleaned leather, grips, and nicotine guards with WD40, which always served me well the last 15 years.
But to each his own
Ger
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