The ear dagger (French: dague à oreilles; Italian: daga a[d] orecchie / daga alla levantina / daga alla stradiota, Spanish: daga de orejas) is a form of dagger with a distinctive pommel shaped much like a human ear (or, to some, "Mickey Mouse ears", or a pair of clamshells. It is thought to have originated in North Africa, and diffused into Europe by way of Spain and Italy.
Another ear-pommeled dagger was popular in Turkey during the Ottoman Empire; this "Turkish ear dagger" is properly defined as a subtype of the bichaq.
Originals:
- 1 steel, Germany
- 2 steel, Spain
- 3 steel, Nasrid dynasty, Spain (probably of North African manufacture) - sold for almost $6 million at Sotheby's
Replicas: