All About Pocket Knives

Hi, I am new to the forum. I have been collecting on and off since I was a kid and now I cannot seem to stop buying knives. I bought this bowie knife a couple months ago at a flea market. I bought it because I saw the sheffield mark on it and I like the old bowie style. I got home and looked it up in the knife book I have and it is rated at a four out of five stars. This made me happy. The knife handle is clean with no cracks. The blade has been used and sharpend. Really all I know about it is that the blade is carbon steal and it is probably from the 1800's. The handle looks like bone. The symbol on the knife is the heart and pistol but it is half covered by the hilt. I am not sure why. The sheath appears to be hand made for the owner. Any information would be great.

Welcome to AAPK

Chris, is it?

Nice older knife.

These type knives are not my area of interest or knowledge, but I guarantee somebody here will be of more help.
I'll tell you what I think I know.

Strictly speaking, "Bowie" knives are from the early to mid 1800's, say 1830's to the end of the Civil War.
Knives like yours are generally referred to as "Bowie style hunting knives".
I don't know how long your knife is, but I suspect it's somewhere between 12 and 16" long and the blade about 8 to 10".
The fact that the knife is marked "ENGLAND" dates it to after 1891. The US passed some strict tariff laws in 1890, requiring the country of origin be stamped on all imported cutlery.
The handles are stag and very nicely aged and attractive.
I suspect the sheath is original to the knife, although I could be wrong on that.
A very nice knife. Glad you got it.

BTW; you can post up to ten photos to each AAPK posting.

Charlie Noyes

Welcome, chrisorbics, to a great forum.
Goins encycyclopedia says of JONATHAN CROOKES & SON, that they manufactured from 1780 to present.
The trademark, heart and pistol, was used as early as 1780. The firm was JONATHAN CROOKES, and became
JONATHAN CROOKES AND SON about 1827. Some companies have taken over through the years, but I believe the heart and pistol was used throughout.
What a nice knife! And also, what a beautiful hand made sheath. Very classy!
I hope other members will add more to this information.

Joe

Welcome to the site. Nice knife. As mentioned, it was made 1891 or thereafter. Based on the high quality of the stag, I'd estimate it was made prior to WWII. Sorry I can't be any more specific than that. s-k

Welcome Chris, and a really K-nice K-nife.

Chrisorbics,
Wonderful old stag bowie! And even better with the sheath. I hope you get some more good info. Thanks for posting it.
Mark

Thanks for all the replies. The sheath is custom with the owners name and the maker which is hard to read. There is a date that ends with 66 so I'm guessing it is 1966. It is still nice and soft. I thought it was older but either way it is very nice.

I like the sheath too .

Welcome and sweet old knife! Very cool Knife & sheath.

chrisorbics wrote: Really all I know about it is that the blade is carbon steal and it is probably from the 1800's. The handle looks like bone. The symbol on the knife is the heart and pistol but it is half covered by the hilt. I am not sure why. The sheath appears to be hand made for the owner. Any information would be great.

It is a post 1920 Hunting knife, not a Bowie knife. Looks to me to have been made during the 1940-50`s.

The sheath looks like it is from a German knife co. The Germans were big on Oak leaves and acorn decoration on their hunting knife sheaths. The original sheath was probably lost and this was used as a replacement.

A very nice knife, with nice stag handles

Wow. This nice is getting newer and newer. The sheath is custom and has the makers name on it in english but it is hard to read because the color of the ink is too close to the color of the leather. How can you tell the difference between a bowie knife and a hunting knife. I thought this was the bowie style.

Thats a SWEETIE !!

Thanks

It's awesome...very nice.