Beautiful, antique pair of steel throwing knives with wooden case. Perfect balance of the two knives

Beautiful, antique pair of steel throwing knives with wooden case. Perfect balance of the two knives

17th century, German

Forged steel

Size Case : 15 cm

Size Knife : 23 cm

The origins of throwing knives date back to prehistoric times when man used throwing sticks to hunt birds and other animals. The throwing stick, widely considered one of the first weapons used by man, was also the preferred tool of Tutankhamun in Egypt around 1300 B.C.

It wasn't until metallurgy grew in popularity that the throwing stick truly evolved into the throwing knife.

In medieval Europe Hans Talhoffer (c. 1410-1415 – after 1482) and Paulus Hector Mair (1517–1579) both mention throwing daggers in their treaties on combat and weapons. Talhoffer specifies a type of spiked dagger for throwing while Mair describes throwing the dagger at an opponent's chest.