Scrimshaw artist MW?

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Hello, I am new to this forum. Been collecting for decades now. Started buying and selling collections some time ago. Felt like I should join this forum because every time I have a knife question, Google takes me here. So thank you everyone for all the great and helpful information.
The latest collection I purchased is a very vintage Keen Kutter collection, of 155 pieces. Some are more recent like the one I will hopefully post w/ this message. My question is about the Scrimshaw artist on this knife. It has MW marked on it. I checked online and even contacted Gary Harbour, who is currently scrimming some ivory Case knives that I have, and he can’t figure it out either. I would appreciate any information on this artist that anyone has. From what I have come up w/ this artist did a lot of work for Bear and most likely this is a knife produced by them as well.
Thank you for the help.
All the Best,
Mark

[Steve Warden]

Hi Mark. Welcome!
Sweet looking knife. Could that be MN instead of MW? Either way, I have no idea. Sorry, just going by first glance at the initials.

[Meridian_Mike]

Welcome Mark....
I did a quick google search and I did see a few more images that were nice scrims done by an artist whose initials are same as yours. It looks like a stylized "MW". No one that I saw knew the artist. This is a good question and I look forward to the answers to come.

Mike

[Steve Warden]

Found this ---> https://www.scrimshaw.com/mystery-artis ... on-antler/

[Meridian_Mike]

Here is what I found....

http://iknifecollector.com/group/scrims ... tist-mw-is

Now I am really interested....LOL.

Some think it is "MW" and others think "MN"... interesting.....

[deo-pa]

Welcome Mark.

To identify scrimshaw artists I go here: http://scrimshawstudio.com/artist.marks.html. I didn't take the time to search the listings but you may well find your MW or MN artist here.

Dennis

[Shearer]

Could not find the artist but here a interesting side .
http://scrimshawstudio.com/artist.marks.html

Grant

[Meridian_Mike]

I went down the list you gave the link to Dennis.... guess what.... the "MW" signature is one of the "Un-resolved" names...

And on goes the mystery.



As a post script... those initials showed up on a powder horn so I suspect it is a contemporary horn maker. I notice he likes the sea....

Mike

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Thanks for the links. I saw those too, but again, no one seems to know who this mysterious MW is. His work is very good and it’s a shame that this person is unacknowledged.
This knife was pretty scratched up when I got it. I have polished out a lot of the scratches. Tried a new technique on this and am so impressed with the results. The blades look untouched. So I thought it would be worth the effort to polish it up. From my experience the shinier and clean the knife, the better the price.
Hope someone will be able to tell us who this artist is. Keep up the posts.
Mark

[danno50]

Have you tried emailing Bear?

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Funny, I just did that. Great minds think alike. I will let everyone know if they can shed some light on this.
Thanks
Mark

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Heard back from Ken Griffey the president of Bear. He told me that they did not sell this knife w/ the scrimshaw on it. It was done after purchase.
So we are back to where we started. If anyone finds out who this artist is, please let me know.
Now does this make this knife worth more? Honestly I can’t tell if scrimshaw is machined or done by hand. Wouldn’t a hand scrimed knife be worth more? Any experience w/ this or opinions? My plan was to sell this and others from a collection I bought. Maybe it would be worth hanging onto?

[Quick Steel]

I will certainly pay more for hand made scrimshaw versus a mechanical repro. Much more.

[deo-pa]

Here is another question that goes back six years as to who this scrimshaw artist is. You can see two more examples of his/her work on knives.

http://iknifecollector.com/group/scrims ... tist-mw-is.

Dennis

[Sharpnshinyknives]

I thought that a hand scrimed knife would be worth more. I am looking forward to getting back the 6 Case Ivory handled knives I sent to Gary Harbour to hand scrim all six. I will post pictures of these when I get them back.
What do you think about colored scrimshaw versus one color? Gary insists that full color is much more popular and valuable. So I went w/ is recommendation. I can’t wait to get these back.
Also, thanks for all the information. I sure wish someone would see this and come forward w/ the correct name. This is hard on an OCD person like me!

[deo-pa]

Here is another example of his/her work: https://www.etsy.com/listing/261201846/ ... ard-eagle?

I thought I had it when I found a South African scrimshaw artist who does knives named Melodie de Witt but her style is more detailed with finer lines (click on photo to enlarge).

Dennis

[danno50]

Mark, I am sure there are a lot of folks here who would be interested in seeing more pics of the 155 piece vintage Keen Kutter collection, I know I would. Will you be selling them on ebay?

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Thank you for asking. I will be selling some on eBay and I would like to sell some here on this sight. I have applied to open a store site w/ AAPK. I am currently waiting for approval, in the mean time I am giving the knives a much needed cleaning and polishing and oiling. After having sold over 450 knives on eBay this past year, I realized that eBay might not be the correct venue to sell these antique knives. So far when I have sold an old knife that has black spots on blades or a crack in the pearl, even if the knife is 85 years old, buyers want these for next to nothing. I know these are worth more than the 10 to 20 prices I would have to settle for on eBay. So when I start listing these, I hope you will find some you like.
Thanks for the feedback. Going to have to decide what to sell the scrimshawed knife for now. I will price at what I think is fair and if someone agrees, good. If not I will put it back in my collection.

[RobesonsRme.com]

It makes no sense to me that multiple queries over a period of time have failed to ID this artist.

They do this work as a means of financial gain. They do not slip in and scrim items in the dead of night. They are not secret scrim graffiti artists.

Personally, I keep thinking of a lady named, "Mary", but I don't know why.

Charlie Noyes

[Sharpnshinyknives]

Those scrimshaws above are absolutely beautiful, wow. I will make a note to find something done by her.
The comment about graffiti scrimshaws is funny. I can’t figure out why someone would want to keep their identify secret when they have such an great talent and gift. I’m sure they don’t work for free, at least I haven’t heard of a scrimshaw charity.
Thanks for sharing the photos of that scrimshaw, truly amazing.

[bighomer]

I agree ask those big cats look ready to pounce, gorgeous work.wow thanks for sharing.

[john_m_holt]

I know this post is 6 years old but I have one of these, Keen Kutter 92 large trapper scrimshawed by MW. Has anyone been able to obtain information on the artist? I know these were done after they left Bear.

[john_m_holt]

I apologize I am horrible at taking pictures and the camera on my phone is not great. Here is another.....
Any help is appreciated.

[doglegg]

I can't supply any info but I can say that is an awesome knife. Love the Scrimshaw.

[john_m_holt]

I paid 25 bucks for it at a flea market. I am very new to knife world and I have a lot of learning to do. This site is amazing and I am looking forward to gaining a bunch of knowledge!! My favorite knives are the Western Boulder CO.