French Hunting Sword

[emeraldcity]

This sword appears to be a French venery dagger from the 16th or 17th century.

 

[LRB]

Daggers don't have 22" blades.

 

[Red Owl]

You can still book a hunt in France for Red Deer. The guys dress up like English fox hunters riding to the hounds. The hounds encircle the stag and the hunt master leaps off his horse, rushes into the melee and administers the "coup de grace". Check the net, these hunting swords are still sold.
"Men at Arms" magazine, published by the NRA has a lot of ads of collectible arms, knives, swords, guns- try to buy a copy of the magazine and contact one of the dealers for information on your sword.

 

[Bighorserider]

Matt Easton of the YouTube channel Scholagladatoria would probably know. He's an antique swords dealer.

 

[emeraldcity]

This sword appears to be a French venery dagger from the 16th or 17th century. Venery daggers were used for hunting and would have been worn suspended from the belt. The inscription on the reverse side of the blade is probably French, but it is so worn that it is not easy to be sure. The handle is most likely made of bone or ivory and would have had a metal guard and pommel. These daggers were often decorated with images related to hunting, such as scenes of animals or birds. The inscription may reference the French royal family's hunting grounds. This particular dagger may have once had such an image, but it is now too worn to tell. In general, venery daggers are rare and highly collectible items. If this dagger is indeed from the 16th or 17th century, it would be a valuable addition to any collection.

 

[Old Painless]

This is a site that has a forum of bunch of know it alls on old blades and the very old BP guns. Ethnographic Arms & Armour.
I have found info on some of my old blades.
http://vikingsword.com/ethsword