Posted 9 years ago
Redsox81
(23 items)
Just found this very unique, very old knife. I don't know much on old blades but I'm hoping someone else does. My first thought is could this be Native American related? Obviously this was hand made but by whom, and when? The handle appears to be an ordinarily piece of wood. What confuses me is the bottom end of the handle. It looks like a completely different piece of wood, although I assure you it is not. It is smooth and unlike the rest of the handle that looks untouched, the bottom end appears whittled. The blade also appears very old, and in some places disintegrated. What else could cause this other than time? The blades base runs down the middle 3/4th of the way through the handle and appears to have two pins to hold it in place. This is really all I know about this. Any kind of feedback would be very helpful.
What part of the country did you find this treasure? That might give someone a clue as to who might have made this knife. Maybe it's just my imagination, but the handle's shape, to me, looks like a sperm whale. Might that be another clue?
Now that you mention it, I can see the resemblance of a sperm whale. I don't think the handle was intended to look like a sperm whale. In hand, I think the handle is simply an ordinary peice of what but with the bottom whittled. I just don't understand why? I found this in Indiana/Kentucky within a few miles from the Ohio River (Madison Indiana).
It's probably a far-fetched idea, but since the handle, whether intended or not, does resemble a whale, I thought maybe the knife could have been made by a sailor who was on a sperm whale hunting ship back in the days of Melville's MOBY DICK and CAPTAIN AHAB. That's why I asked where it was found. If it'd been found anywhere along the eastern seaboard.....Oh, well. It was just a thought. You've got a real toughie here.