Very Early American Bowie

[Shotgun Steve]

Very early American Bowie, side knife, ca. 1830-35, with original sheath. Handle is burl walnut with silver inlays on all four sides (12) in all. The oval guard is made of silver. Blade length 8 5/8", Total 13".
Price
$ 8,500.00

[Dave Cole]

What a great piece.Dave

[Josh Dabney]

Heya Steve,

Will ya take a check fer it ?   LOL LOL LOL   

-Josh

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[Shotgun Steve]

It's not mine Josh although I wish it was. I just thought I would post the price
with it for informational purposes only!!

 Shotgun

[The Elderly Kid]

Are there any blade markings? I'd love to know the provenance of that piece. It looks vaguely Sheffield, but could be the work of an American master cutler. Never seen silver inlay on the top (or bottom) of the handle like that. Is the sheath original? Silver-mounted bowies like that one usually had silver on the sheaths as well, but this is a very unusual knife. A real find. How was the (probable) date determined?

[northwestgrizzly]

For some reason the general lines of that blade remind me of a Scottish dirk.

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

Northwestgrizzly;  I was just going to post that same observation.  Only difference seems to be that dinky little guard.

Zactly where in the Oregon Territory are you?  I reside near Fort Victoria, in clear view of Port Angeles and San Juan.

[Shotgun Steve]

Howdy fellas,
The sheath is original to the blade....the knife is up for sale and I do not know how they came up
with the ca. 1830-35 timeline. I will do some more digging and see what I can come up with.
Take care pards.

 Shotgun Steve

[northwestgrizzly]

Northwestgrizzly;  I was just going to post that same observation.  Only difference seems to be that dinky little guard.

Zactly where in the Oregon Territory are you?  I reside near Fort Victoria, in clear view of Port Angeles and San Juan.

If'n your askin me...I am from the Shelm plains East NorEast of the state capitol of Washington state....

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

NWG;  Enumclaw?

[northwestgrizzly]

NWG;  Enumclaw?

Yelm WA. 

[rebsr52339]

Hi guys. Thought I would put my two cents in about this knife. New to this site so bare with me. My background goes waaaaay back to the early 50s and my mentor, Robert Abels. He got me started collecting Bowies and it has been a love affair ever sense. I agree with the circa of this knife. "Usually" knives of this era were decorated in coin silver, American and or Mexican. The knives were hilted in burl wallnut, rose wood and Ebony, to mention a few. The engraving and file work do not suggest to me the tallents of a maker of surgical instruments. Rather the efforts of a VERY tallented blacksmith. I cannot tell from the photos if the blade is forged or cast steel and then ground. The sheath, while "old", very old, may not be original. Knives of this quality "usually" demanded sheaths of superior worksmanship, that is, they were usually trimmed in coin silver and in some cases, brass, though not in this case I believe. The price, if recent, I believe is a bit low and would suggest if it was at an auction house today would fetch some where between 15 and 20k. I owned a couple of these kniives, not as much silver in the trimming. This is a beautiful piece of early Americana and some one will be and is the fortunate owner of this knife. Wish it was me. If I get a chance and you wish to see them I will post some old that I own, have owned and some new that I made as gifts if you are interested. Thanks for letting me reminness.

Dick Bernier
ABKA #23

[Ned Buckshot]

You bet Dick, let's see them.

Start another thread so we can keep track.

Welcome!

Ned

[Will Ketchum]

I agree Dick, I remember reading some of Robert Ables' writing and knew him to be very knowledgeable.  You are indeed fortunate to have been able to learn from the master.

Will Ketchum

[rebsr52339]

Thank you Will. My girlfriend at the time spent a lot of time with Bob especially after he had his heart attack. She about lived at his house in Hopewell junction NY. You know when he was  convalescing at home, not ONE of the gun dealing fraternity came to see him or send him a card. It was pathetic.