17th century Italian Stiletto

A solid steel Italian stiletto from the 17th century, it has a diamond shaped blade with a widened reinforced tip. The blade and handle are both solid with no movement. The blade has an overall nice patina with no rust or pitting.

First developed in Italy, the stiletto dates from the late 15th century, and is thought to be a development of the rondel dagger or misericordia, a needle-pointed weapon with a narrow blade designed primarily for thrusting, though possessing cutting edges. Early stilettos normally used a one-piece cast-metal handle which was shaped and turned on a lathe. The stiletto blade was usually hammer-forged into a dense rod with a narrow, triangular cross section, without any sharpened edges. However, other examples of the period have emerged bearing round, square, or diamond cross sections.