Hello all! Newbie to the forum, seems like a helpful bunch around here.
I recently picked up a few vintage knives, and one of them is a little perplexing to me. The handle mostly. I am NO expert on these things, but I can Google with the best of them, and I couldn't find anything close. I believe the knife is of the Civil War Era. It doesn't seem as though it's ever been sharpened. Which makes sense since the presentation box? Super sturdy, no loose fittings. But that handle... It was sold to me as being made of bone, which I believe.
Alright, as long as you asked. Knife is one of a plethora of modern fakes that have appeared on the market in the last few years. Totally fake, not made by IXL, not one part of it is an original bowie knife. The handle which looks more like ivory than bone is from a genuine antique carving knife set, either the knife, fork, or sharpening steel. The blade is totally modern, real antique bowie blades did not have those dimensions. The ricasso is too long and the grind on the blade starts too low, really a poor looking fake. The marks appear to be cold stamped and are unlike any real IXL marks or Wostenholm marks. Many of these modern fakes are sold in "presentation" boxes, all fake. Old Barn Auctions in OH recently had a sale with a bunch of fake bowies with similar attributes. I hope you didn't spend a lot on it, my word is unlikely to get you your money back. If you purchased such an item you should stay away from such things until you are better educated on what real ones look like, that one is fake from across the room. If you want an appraisal that might get your money back you can get one from Bernard Levine but it will cost you money to do so. I sure would have liked to own the carving set the handle came from, must have been a beautiful set! If the others you bought were "bowies" and they came from the same source they are probably all fakes, please post photos here.
Well alright! First, thank you. Second, yes, I paid way too much.
I suppose I'm thankful I didn't win the other "bowies" I was going for...
Cutlery set. That's kinda funny. If I can't get my money back I'll probably put that bit in my ad when I try to sell it.
Was the "bowie" from the Old Barn auction? These folks need to be stopped. I think Mr Levine (google him) charges about $25 for a full appraisal, with his written appraisal you might well be likely to get your money back. I think it would be well worth it. Gonna be hard to resell it. Every one of the so-called "antique bowie knives" in that auction were fakes. There were some good WW2 knives in the second day auction but the first day was full of fakes. There are also many fakes from the same faker on ebay, all with spurious marks of famous old companies and all with antique carving knife set handles, all with blades with improper dimensions, and all with similar sheaths. Some of those on ebay have come from past Old Barn auctions. Sorry to hear that you spent a lot on it although I don't know what a lot is to you. A real larger IXL civil war era bowie with ivory handles will usually bring over a thousand and up. The Keris looks like it has been re-handled or is missing something from the handle, the Corsican Vendetta knife is a nice large one.
This one was sold at auction up in Alaska. And alot to me is $525... I felt I missed out on some others because I wouldn't the coin to get them, so God forbid I missed out on this one! I have to laugh. I'll look up Mr. Levine, thank you.
Here are the other "bowies" that were up for auction.
The Keris has some damage, it was purchased with that knowledge. And the other is a pretty solid piece I'm happy I got.
Yup, those other "bowies" are from the same faker. All have carving set handles, all have cold stamped marks and blades with improper dimensions and similar sheaths. By the way, the sheaths provided with civil war and earlier Sheffield bowie knives were a type of paper mache' with a thin leather veneer over that and they did not hold up well if subjected to heavy use, but on a little used knife they are usually quite nice looking. The original sheaths for the IXLs usually have IXL on the sheath and other companies will often have their logo on the veneer leather also. I agree, 525 is lot to me too, especially for a fake. Boils down to the old adage "if a deal is too good to be true it probably is". I think you should go the Levine route, spending 25 to get 525 back sounds logical. Bernard Levine is America's leading antique knife expert and has testified in court cases, his appraisals do hold some weight. His website is www.knife-expert.com and he is in Oregon. I hope you can get this resolved and get your money back.
I probably won't get my money back because they never stated it was genuine.. Worst case I have a little fun with an Ebay auction, try and hawk this as a "Faux Bowie style knife with googly eyes". More than likely fake disclaimer.
Mark this down to as a learning experience.
The auction house is standing by the knife as being legitimate. I emailed them with my "dilemma", and they responded with "we were told by the consigner that it was real, and we called them again and were told again, it was real"... they also said they'd take it back and refund me. So, makes me think they aren't so sure themselves if they'd just take it back, it is an auction house after all.
Thank you for your help!
That's great news! I think auction houses and other sellers are being more careful of customers in these days of social media shaming. Had they not agreed to a refund you could have given them a poor rating on Yelp or other rating sites and most companies fear that. After you get the knife back to them and get your money back tell them the other "bowies" in the auction are also fake, perhaps they will drop the consigner.
