1800s MINT 18" UNSHARPENED CLIP CHECKERED EBONY BIG GAME BOWIE & ORIGINAL SHEATH For Sale
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1800s MINT 18" UNSHARPENED CLIP CHECKERED EBONY BIG GAME BOWIE & ORIGINAL SHEATH:
$6975.00
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1800s MINT UNSHARPENED 12" CLIP CHECKERED EBONY BIG GAME BOWIE
WITH ORIGINAL SHEATH
1800's LARGE 12" CLIP BLADE CHECKERED EBONY HILT BIG GAME BOWIE KNIFE
18" OVERALL ~ WITH ORIGINAL SHEATH by BUTLER & CO. / SHEFFIELD
IN RARE MINT UNSHARPENED CONDITION
The Butler heritage as Sheffield Cutlers began in the 17th century when the firm first registered their well known "Key" trade mark registered in 1681. Butler was recorded to be the largest Sheffield Cutlery firm during the early 1810 - 1814 period. Their Trinity Street address dates from 1848 until they relocated to larger works on Eyre Street in 1864; previously occupied by the the Cutlery firm of Corsan, Denton & Burdekin from 1852 - 1860. The firm's impressive 4 story location was named Trinity Works, and was one of the largest firms in Sheffield with a London office at 60 Holborn Viaduct; next door to Joseph Rodgers at #62. By 1890, the firm employed abut 400 Craftsmen. Butler achieved an excellent reputation for it's hand forged, hand ground cutlery at home and in it's Major overseas markets in Australia and India. Butler's pocket knives were first class; and it's cut-throat razors and other cutlery also had a excellent reputations. Presentation sets of cutlery were made for the Royal family, and Butler won prize medals, including gold, at several Exhibitions. In the 1920's, Butler was still producing hand forged pocket knives, but was slow to adapt to the mass marketing era; and went into liquidation by 1952.
Imagine on an 1860's safari, carrying a single shot black powder 8 gauge slug rifle, when an elephant charges. He would have to be shot between the eyes to drop him with one shot; otherwise you could expect to be trampled to death. Adventurers would typically carry a Bowie knife as a Side Arm even after large caliber black powder metallic cartridge firearms became available during the 1870's. These large knives fall into the category of Big Game Bowies; and have the accompanying romance and history associated with this period of History where Bowie knives were a required accouterment. All Frontiersmen, Trappers, Hunters and Sportsmen of this period also carried Bowies; and used them for clearing a campsite, dressing big game, and for self-protection. Sheffield Bowie knives were completely hand forged, hand ground, hand fitted & hand polished by Master Craftsmen who toiled at the same job for decades, using only simple hand tools. Sheffield was the acknowledged Knife Capitol of the World then, and for several previous centuries.
This Big Bowie is 18" overall. The knife has a wide & thick clip style blade that is 12" long X 1 3/8” wide, made from thick 1/4" stock. This hefty Bowie weighs 1 pound 3.1 oz.; 1 pound 8.3 oz. with the sheath. The clip point blade has a sharpened edge grind to both sides on the top edge from the tip to 5 5/8" back. This early style false edge was factory sharpened, and could be used as an additional cutting edge when dressing game; or, when making a return stroke in a knife fight. This Bowie was a formidable and deadly weapon
Most Sheffield Bowie makers hot stamped their mark on the the ricasso and/or the blade flat. Although etched Maker marks are unusual, other Sheffield makers such as Wilkinson were known for using etching almost exclusively. And, the early American Maker Ames also used etching extensively, and also for their Makers mark. Etching is also found in unmarked Sheffield knives that were exported to America; especially during the California Gold rush through the U.S. Civil War period. Retailers would either etch or cold stamp the blades with their name; and etched patriotic motifs were widely used to sell knives.
Almost all Bowies have been cleaned, polished or buffed in their lifetime; usually many times. This blade is full with a sharp tip, has never been sharpened, and is just as it left the factory with all of it's original bright shiny crocus of Iron polish; the painstakingly applied fine final polish characteristic of almost all Sheffield knives. As expected for a 150 year old blade, there are small scattered patches of naturally occurring very light aging acquired over time from moisture interacting with the leather tanning process chemicals on the inside the sheath on the polished steel blade. The blade edge is sharp with one minuscule nick when you run your finger along the edge. There is a tiny naturally occurring aging spot called "spidering" on the back side edge that can be seen under magnification, demonstrating the blade is antique and has never been sharpened; otherwise you would think the blade was made yesterday. The unusual fuller (also improperly called a "blood groove") is 10 1/8" long x 1/2 wide, and is hand ground in both sides of the blade to make the blade lighter in weight and stronger; and to give the Bowie a better balance. The blade tang is hidden inside the hilt and secured at the end of the pommel with a rounded German silver pommel nut with a lanyard hole. Overall, the blade is in mint, unsharpened condition.
Almost all of the fancy crossguards and pommels on this period Sheffield made Bowies, dirks & daggers are lightweight hollow designs stamped from sheet metal and filled with lead; certainly unsuitable for a heavy duty knife intended to dress big game and used as a camp knife on big game American Hunting or safaris in Africa and India. This fancy, early style CAST German Silver crossguard is 3 1/8" long x 3/8" thick, with the upturned quillons resembling a stylized "S" pattern in profile. The crossguard is integral with the one-piece CAST German Silver ferrule. The unique spring loaded catch that is hand sewn onto the top of the sheath throat has a rectangular latch that fits into the cross guard notch cut in back side of the top quillon that secures the Bowie in the sheath when mounted on horseback or worn in the field
Ebony is a rare, black dense hardwood, and is dense enough to sink in water. It is native to southern India, Sri Lanka, West Africa and Indonesia. The ebony hilt is very finely hand checkered on 4 sides, with no cracks, chips or damage. The hilt is 6" long from ricasso to the ball end, made from one piece of select ebony hardwood, and purposefully curved in a pistol grip for aesthetic purposes and to improve the pistol style grip. The one piece ebony is 4 7/8" long x 1 3/4" wide at the pommel and tapers toward the ferrule to 1". The top & bottom also taper slightly from 7/8" at the pommel to 3/4" at the ferrule.
This unique Explorer Bowie knife pattern dates from the early 1860's through the 1880's; but was most popular in the 1860's-70's period when it was in vogue for wealthy Sporting Gents to go on big game safaris in Africa and India. Known examples of this Bowie pattern appear to be identical, but have blade lengths from about 9" to the largest 12" blade; and are proportioned accordingly. The largest 12" Bowie examples tend to date earlier than the smaller bladed Bowies; and this piece dates from between 1864 to the 1870's. Almost all of the English outfitters who supplied wealthy Sporting Gents their Firearms, Bowies, and accoutrements for their large game American Hunters, African or Indian safaris were located in London; and Large Bowies were a required necessity for a Sporting Gentlemen of means as a Camp Knife, for dressing Big Game, and for Self Protection. And then, as is now for Bowies; Bigger is better.
The earliest known Explorer pattern Bowie knife known is a Civil War Presentation piece made up in the 1861- 1863 period for a Union Army Captain, John Ramsey of the 1st and 5th New Jersey Infantry. The ricasso is acid etched "TOMES, SON & MELVAIN NEW.YORK", a Retailer that was dissolved in 1864. Although this N.Y. Retailer used both imported and domestic blades, the entire Presentation Bowie, i.e. the clip blade, ebony hilt, and London style sheath are identical to later Explorer knives; the only difference is the crossguard. This Presentation knife is the only Explorer pattern Bowie with this crossguard; all other Explorer Bowies known have the signature S shaped heavy duty cast German silver crossguard. This Presentation Bowie also has embellishments done by the New York Retailer; i.e., 3 dimensional carved panels on the top and bottom of the checkered ebony hilt with the Civil War Unit, a silver US plaque on one side of the crossguard flat, a Presentation engraving on the obverse crossguard flat, and fancy personalized initials stenciled on the leather sheath throat. The typical Explorer ball finial with a lanyard hole was replaced with a flat pommel nut. The Tomes, Son & Melvain firm began in New York as Lewis & Tomes in 1814 as an Cutler Importer, and moved to 6 Maiden Lane, New York in 1835. Their Retail business occupied 7 floors of sporting and shooting supplies, and were the exclusive U.S. dealer of the extremely popular English Adams Revolvers that proved so popular, they forced Samuel Colt to close his London factory. They were also the largest dealer in the U.S. for "Rodgers, of Sheffield, articles of fine cutlery". This, of course, refers to Joseph Rodgers. Thus, it is almost a certainty that Joseph Rodgers / Sheffield made this unmarked early Explorer pattern Civil War Presentation knife that was etched in New York with the Retailer's name.
All Explorer Bowies have markings; some are hot stamped and some are etched. Some have Sheffield markings, some London markings, and one U.S retailer marking. Some Makers / Retailers would lend their Maker's mark to the manufacturer to hot stamp their Bowie; or, a large London retailer would have a custom made hot stamp made to identify their retail establishment. Some Explorer Bowies left the factory unmarked so they could be acid etched with the Maker and/or Retailer / Outfitter's name. Bowies that fall within the known Explorer pattern date range have been observed with markings from Butler & Co. (Sheffield Maker / Trinity Works, estabished 1848), Charles Lancaster (London Maker est. 1847), James Dixon & Sons (Sheffield Maker & Retailer est. 1833), Ford & Medley (Sheffield Maker est. 1872), and Drew & Morton (London Retailer), a collaboration with J. Drew & Sons (London Maker & Retailer est. 1844.
The limited number of surviving Explorer Bowie examples, the unique pattern with identical blades and hilts, the extremely high quality and attention to detail, the use of rare, finely checkered ebony wood, all demonstrate that Explorer Bowies were made by the same Maker. Since all known examples of the Explorer Bowie pattern (except the crossguard & pommel nut on the earliest Civil War Presentation piece) are identical except for blade length, it is a foregone conclusion that Joseph Rodgers not only made the Civil War Presentation Explorer Bowie; but also made all the Explorer pattern knives. I have never seen a Joseph Rodgers Marked Explorer Bowie. Joseph Rodgers made several thousand different knife patterns and custom made to order knives; so the Explorer pattern was exclusively made for domestic Cutlery Makers, London Outfitters, and Foreign export; mostly to America. These Bowies were either hot stamped when forged with the name of a Cutlery Maker and/or Retailer, or sold unmarked for later Maker / Retailer etching or cold stamping. The Joseph Rodgers & Sons book by Domenech, page 247, shows three examples of Hunting knives with the identical Explorer clip blades Maker marked Joseph Rodgers / Sheffield / England; but these late Hunting knives have plain round 1 piece stag hilts and plain crossguards. This suggests this Explorer blade pattern was being utilized by Rodgers in the 1890's; perhaps utilizing unused Explorer blade blanks.
Most 19th Century Bowies are found with no sheath, which is especially true for Big, heavy Bowies. Typical period Sheffield Bowies had delicate cardboard sheaths that were covered with a thin leather veneer, and were intended to just get the Bowie out of the showroom with little regard for being carried daily for decades. When Bowies are found with a sheath, they are usually worn, creased, torn, broken off, have missing mounts; and are often discarded altogether. They are sometimes found with an incorrect replaced sheath, or had a hand made, sturdier leather sheath made up sometime during it's period of use. This original Bowie black leather sheath has several unique features. This large clip style blade requires a shaped sheath to match; and when you lay the blade over the sheath, the borders are uniform; demonstrating that this is the correct and original sheath. The leather is heavy duty, and has a double thick reinforced leather tip, middle strap and throat. All of the typical Sheffield veneer covered cardboard sheaths have a frog button that acts as a belt stop or peg for a slit in a belt when worn. These frog button the first thing to go; especially on large, heavy Bowies. This style sheath has a sturdy belt loop on the backside to securely fasten the Bowie & sheath to a waist belt. These sheath features are characteristic of the few London Bowie makers, and almost all London Bowie retailers & outfitters of the period. This original sheath is 12 3/4" long x 2 1/4" wide, in overall fine condition for it's age, rarely carried, with very light wear and expected light handling marks. When sheathed, the blade fits snugly the sheath and is secured by the spring loaded rectangular latch.
The blade, integral cross guard / ferrule, hilt and sheath are tight, and all in fine matching condition that only comes from 150 years of proper care. This is what is expected in a mint condtion Bowie knife that was "put up"; and is exactly what advanced collectors love to see. This Large Bowie Knife is for the advanced knife collector; a rare 19th Century Big Game Bowie in mint, untouched condition, that is rarely seen, much less offered for sale. This handsome Bowie by the acknowledged Maestro of Sheffield Cutlery has lots of eye appeal, and is for the collector that appreciates the investment potential of a Fine Bowie knife, and understands the romance of a Big Bowie Knife custom made and imported for a American Big Game Hunter or a wealthy Sporting Gent's African / Indian Safari adventure, all in mint condition. This Bowie would be the center piece of most Bowie knife collections, and would certainly compliment any Bowie, 19th Century arms, Old West, Hunting, Big Game, Safari, Trapper, Frontiersman, Weapon or Edged Weapon style="background-color: transparent; color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-family: Arial; font-size: 18.06px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">SEE SELLER'S RETURN POLICY BELOW
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