LARGE AND HEAVY, FINE QUALITY, RARE, ENGLISH, HUNTING OR FIGHTING BOWIE 1800s*** for Sale

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LARGE AND HEAVY, FINE QUALITY, RARE, ENGLISH, HUNTING OR FIGHTING BOWIE 1800s*** For Sale

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LARGE AND HEAVY, FINE QUALITY, RARE, ENGLISH, HUNTING OR FIGHTING BOWIE 1800s***:
$4995.00

A LARGE AND HEAVY, FINE QUALITY, RARE, ENGLISH, HUNTING OR FIGHTING BOWIE 1800s A LARGE AND HEAVY, FINE QUALITY, RARE, ENGLISH, HUNTING OR FIGHTING BOWIE ***1800s

A LARGE AND HEAVY, FINEQUALITY, RARE, ENGLISH, HUNTING OR FIGHTING

BOWIE KNIFE BY SILVER OFLONDON ***

10” DAGGER STYLE BLADE / STAGSCALES / ORIGINAL SHEATH

LONDON MARKED / MADE INSHEFFIELD / PUBLISHED

S.W. Silver & Co.began in the18th Century as Colonial and Army agents, clothiers, and outfitters principallyto those in the Army and Colonial Service. An 1848 London advertisementrecorded the firm’s trade as \'Emigration Outfitting”, Naval and MilitaryOfficers, Midshipmen, Cadets, and Civilians. Although S.W. Silver & Co. wasalso a retailer of complete Outfits for individuals emigrating to the BritishColonies in Australia, New Zealand, they specialized in outfitting Naval andMilitary Officers during the time the British Empire was at its height, includingarmament as a both a necessity and accoutrement. Unlike firearms, Officerscould always depend on their Bowie knife side arm that did not misfire orrequire reloading. Since at least 1859, S.W. Silver had extensive interests inthe India rubber and gutta percha business, and also outfitted Adventurers andcolonists that opened up British Empire heading to Africa and India who favoredtheir very large Bowie Knives that were a necessary accoutrement for dressingbig game, clearing campsites, and personal protection. By 1875 the firmfeatured an ‘Explorer’s Room’ at its Cornhill premises as an ‘office of theColonies’. Although S.W. Silver & Co. advertised that they were the maker ofnearly every article in the Outfits they supplied, the Large BowieKnives supplied by S.W. Silver far exceeded their manufacturing abilities. Towit, this HUGE Bowie Knife weighs 1 1/2pounds! ( 1 pound 7.9 ounces or 678 grams) with the sheath. The Bowie aloneweighs 1 pound 3.5 ounces or 554 grams. It is widely known that most of thecutlery made in Sheffield, the knife capital for hundreds of years, was sold inLondon. In addition, the vast majority of London knives were made inSheffield. However, a London 1842 lawrequired that only cutlery made in London could bear the word LONDON.Thereafter, London merchants who had cutlery made in Sheffield that was markedwith their London Retailers name would have their knives hot stamped with onlytheir Retailer’s name and street address; and omitted the work LONDON to complywith the new law. Note: this Bowie has the S.W. Silver & Co. name withCornhill, Old Bond, and Leadenhall Street addresses, and no LONDON marking. Itis also known that the renown and preeminent Sheffield Joseph Rodgers Cutler’srecord books show that they actually designed and manufactured knives for otherfirms such as Thornhill, Brookes & Crookes. All of the Large Bowies bearingthe S.W. Silver name have a Cornhill address, 66 and 67 being their mainpremises. They also occupied other premises at 29 Old Bond St. and 11Leadenhall St. Thus, not only were S.W. Silver & Co.’s Bowies made inSheffield but were almost certainly made by Joseph Rodgers for their Londonmarket. This Bowie has all the characteristics of undisputed quality and designof a Rodgers Bowie. Ron Flook, the author of the London Knife Book, also concursthat S.W. Silver & Co. large Bowies were made by Joseph Rodgers /Sheffield.

This handsome and eye appealing Bowie ispublished in chapter 41, The Bowie Knife history, Legend, and Myth of theHeritage of English knives by David Hayden-Wright on page 298 and described as (a ***fine quality, rare, English hunting orfighting knife by Silver of London). See below information on varnish preservativeon the blade that was removed revealing the original polish. Also note that thebook dates this Bowie to the late Victorian period. With all due respect, allknife books published have errors. Considering the style, shape, size, weight, quality,and similarity to other period Bowies, in my opinion this Bowie dates to the expansionperiod and pinnacle of the British Empire during the last half of the 19thcentury, circa 1860’s – 1880’s.

This large handmade Bowie knife is 14 1/2”overall, with a hand forged double edged dagger pattern blade that is just ahair shy of 10” (9 7/8”) spear point blade made from heavy1/4” stock and is 1 5/8” wide at thericasso. This 1/4\" thick, heavy tang is one solid piece of steel integral withthe blade and is immediately noticeable when grasping the 4 1/2” X 1 1/2 “x 7/8”thick hilt. This heaviness of the hilt andIron crossguard counters the weight of the10” blade and creates the correct balance of the Bowie. This is an importantdesign feature when you are using the Bowie to slash / cut / clear brush andsmall trees for a campsite. Note that this Bowie has 2 sharpened edges thatwould be extremely useful whether used for clearing a campsite or personalprotection in a knife fight.

As is common for London Bowiesmade for export, the large Iron ovalshaped crossguard is 3 5/8” across x 1 1/8” wide x 1/8” thick, and en suitewith the blade, has surface pitting on the blade side, is solid with nomovement, and untouched aged patina on the back side. The waisted center griphilt has antique matched select stag scales with beautiful grain and color thatcollectors covet. The very end of the pommel shows two small naturallyoccurring cracks from aging, but they only show in the end view and do not penetratethe top of the scales. The brass liners are milled, a characteristic seldom usedon Bowies, and are found on high quality knives. The scales are secured with 5German silver pins. There is an uninscribed German silver escutcheon shield,and note that this, like many of this pattern have the escutcheon facing inwardwhen worn in the sheath.

This Large Bowie Knife weighs 1 1/2pounds! ( 1 pound 7.9 ounces or 678 grams) with the sheath. The Bowie aloneweighs 1 pound 3.5 ounces or 554 grams. 12.3ounces or 349 grams. As is found on many high-end knives, the blade markingsare on the blade flat. As noted, this knife is made in Sheffield and Hotstamped with the London retailer S.W. Silver & Co., along with their streetaddresses on Cornhill, Old Bond, and Leadenhall Streets, without the wordLondon. The 4 blade flats are hollow ground, and the blade retains its originalprofile and tip. It is important to note that many of the knives in this, andother collections with antique knives had their blades coated with varnish orsome other substance in an effort to preserve the blade and prevent inevitable rustingof the steel blades. This was a common practice of the period. Thus, the knivestoday have had their surface protection removed and show the original finish onthe blades. This blade was not buffed nor had any power tools used in the removingthe preservative coating and was done by hand. As a result of this preservative(now removed), most of the original signature Sheffield crocus of Iron polishwith a mirror appearance remains on the blade and retains its original shape. The10-inch-long blade has no nicks when running your finger along the edge and hasbeen very lightly sharpened with one small area of edge sharpening on thebottom edge near the crossguard showing very slight indentation that is hardlynoticeable. There are some light hairlines sharpening marks on the front centerof the blade, and light remnants of spidering that was wiped of the black agingleaving scattered light spotting. The blade has the signature spots of deeppitting caused by blood. Not everyone knows that blood is unbelievably corrosiveto metal, and if not wiped off, will leave deep pitting overnight, just likevery strong acid. This blood pitting is mostly in one area near the tip, and onthe center ridge on the opposite side. This is not unexpected on a utilitarianobject made to dress big game in the field. Some advanced collectors want mint Bowies,but they are impossible to find, and extremely expensive. Other collectorswould consider the blood pitting as a mark of a weapon of war or a hunting trophy.

The heavy-duty sheath is original to theBowie and this style sheath, called a London sheath, was made for Sheffieldknives made for London retailers for use in and exported to the burgeoningBritish Empire in India and Africa, as well as Australia. Unlike the typical Sheffieldstyle Bowie / dirk cardboard sheath covered with a thin layer of leather veneer,London style sheaths are distinctive in that they are heavy duty, made of woodfor blade protection and durability with heavy leather covering, have a custommade double stitched seam belt loop hanger with a stitching on the back sewingthe sheath to the hanger, and an additional small Iron screw fastening thehanger to the wooden sheath on the back. The belt loop can accommodate a 21/4” wide belt. The sheath has a nice, aged patina and is in excellent +condition. Note the crossguard has a small hole to lock the knife inside thesheath while on horseback and to secure it in the sheath to prevent loss. ThisBowie only fits into the sheath one way when using this spring-loaded Ironlocking clip. This clip could be pulled out so that the knife can be displayedwith the escutcheon outward if desired; however, the current configuration isoriginal and correct. This small Iron spring locking keeper works but needs to be slightlymoved if you want the keeper to be rigid and lock the knife in the sheath.

Note it isextremely difficulttophotograph a shiny, curved, reflective blade. A DOUBLE hollow ground daggerstyle blade is impossible to photograph as only one half of the blade reflectswhile the other half of the blade doesn’t reflect or has shadows. I took severaldozens of images in several different lighting conditions and had to useimaging correction software to try to get the images to visualize what thehuman eye sees. The best solution I found was to photograph both the top andbottom blade flats separately on both sides of the blades, i.e., 4 differentimages for the 4 separate blade flats.

This handsome, large, heavy, qualityBowie has lots of eye appeal and would be perfect for any Bowie, Knife, 1800’s Hunting,Adventurist, Gentleman’s accoutrement, or Trapper, Frontiersman, Mountain Man,Military collection and could be carried for Civil War reenactment.

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