Posted 8 years ago
Sumdude
(1 item)
45 years ago I was given this knife by an old-timer whom said he had it all his life. Said he picked it up in a junk shop when he was young. I often wondered about its age and use. The handle is brass and what I think is bone. There are leather and brass spacers in the handle and it is not round or square just and odd shape. There are small marks in the blade most visible by the handle. I came to the end of the internet after several weeks of searching so here I am. Thank you for reading my ramblings and looking. Any help in this mystery would be much appreciated.
I'm going to offer some opinions - based solely on the pictures - take them for what they're worth. First, that is a really great old knife! It is typical of what have come to be called "bowie" knives and MAY even be from the classic bowie era (1830 - 1870). It would have served any of the functions that a hunter or outdoorsman would have needed: cleaning game, chopping kindling, even self-defense. It has some indications of a blade forged by a blacksmith (as opposed to being forged in a knife factory); specifically, the median line is not straight and the spine of the blade is rounded off at the ricasso. The guard appears to have been made from two pieces of brass with the quillons being thin sheet metal, unlike a heavier one-piece casting typically seen on factory knives. Also the use of leather spacers between the bone sections is not something encountered in factory-made knifes. They MAY have been added later, as the handle became loose, to fill up extra space. The pommel cap MAY have been "recycled" from a used part. Careful examination could clear up some questions. I think it was used at some point for chopping and the tang has bent slightly, which is why the handle rises at a slight angle relative to the blade; you can also see a tiny offset, or shift, between the first bone section and the brass of the guard. All in all it appears well-made by a person with some skill who wasn't specifically a knife maker; hence some of the engineering deficiencies. It could be anywhere from 90 to 180 years old; how old was the "old timer,” what did he mean by "all his life," and was the knife “old” when he bought it? (It may not even be from the U.S.) With the lack of provenance we'll never know. It's still a beautiful piece.
Thank you for the prompt and informative reply! I don’t think many kids like I was once have much interest in history; it’s not until you are older and have lived thru historic events that it becomes more of an interest. The “old-timer” was in his 70’s at the time he gave it to me, I mowed his lawn. As he put it his kids were moving him into a rest home. Thinking back he often prefaced comments and stories with when I was about your age so I would guess he picked it up around 1910~1920. As far as “junk store” I would believe he meant a second hand store, pawn shop or what we call an antique store.
The Quilon is made of flat brass. The Bolster is separate and made of ¼” thick brass that shows cut or file marks on the ends and looks to be hammered to fit the bone handles, it also looks like a different type of brass then the other brass. The brass rings between the handles also look to be hammered to shape. The butt cap is 2 pieces of thick brass, not sure how it was attached.
Cool! Figure 25 years old for the knife when it went into the shop and you can estimate the minimum age (eg. if he got it when he was 20 it would be 125 years old). It may be older. All the different pieces of metal, and the construction details, is why I believe it was made by a "naïve" knife maker, which makes dating it more accurately impossible.