horseman knife

[sebubski]

Hi. I have a knife that was found in sweden 50 years ago. it was found in a housewall from ca 1800-1900. I like to know age ?, is it a HORSEMAN ?
Where is it made ? Any thing about the tang stamp. Value? I Think that the sides are made in turtleshield. I been the owner in 50 year and sins i got it i been trying to find out the story from this knife, please help me.

[Mumbleypeg]

Welcome to AAPK. Nice old knife. Yes I would classify it as a horseman's knife. These typically have a fleam and a pick - yours has both. Sorry I can't help you with the maker but someone here may know more.

Ken

[knife7knut]

Welcome to the forums! I'm not really sure you could classify that as a horseman's knife but more of a veteranian's knife if there is indeed such a classification. The tools look to be(in addition to the fleam or bleeder blade)a Seton's needle which I believe is used to inject animals;the hook is used to pull back skin or tissue for surgery.The other blades are pretty much standard. If you could supply better pictures(use a flash maybe)it would help. There is or was someone on here who was familiar with Swedish maker's marks;hopefully he will chime in.

[sebubski]

I try to draw the thang. Left fot at the A might have looked the same as the right fot. Possible grind off while sharpening.
Still no one that hava an idea Year? Country? If the ornament is turtleshield, its hard to belive that it was made in sweden.
Sorry for bad Spelling. (school English) I do my best.

[Paladin]

,,,,,,
Sorry for bad Spelling. (school English) I do my best.

You are doing just fine on your English so do not worry about that. Just bear with us as someone will probably come by who is familiar with the mark.

Ray

[knife7knut]

I try to draw the thang. Left fot at the A might have looked the same as the right fot. Possible grind off while sharpening.
Still no one that hava an idea Year? Country? If the ornament is turtleshield, its hard to belive that it was made in sweden.
Sorry for bad Spelling. (school English) I do my best.

Not a problem;your English is coming through loud and clear. The top part of the mark is similar to one on a Swedish bayonet that I have. The A looks similar to the Greek letter Alpha. The handle material may be clear horn that has been heated and impressed with a design. Knife(and razor)makers used a lot of clear horn deliberately discolored to simulate tortoise shell. The giveaway is that clear horn usually has a series of parallel lines in it when looked at through a magnifier.It is made up of hair and a resinous material that hardens to form the horn. Clear horn is usually derived from animals such as goats and was quite popular for knife handles.
Some good clear photographs of the knife using an external light source or a flash on the camera will help immensely in figuring it's origin. Placing a ruler next to it helps determine it's size also.

[sebubski]

Hi. Posting some more Pictures, I hope they will help. Pic nr 1 shows a missing tool ? or maybe it was longer with a whole for a safty string?
The part that sticks out is sollid ( not folding) All tool exept the long knife has VERY strong springs, easy to hurt your self when closing.
Maybe this pictures help some one whit new ides.

[knife7knut]

After looking at these newest pictures I offer these speculations:
The protrusion on the end is a screwdriver blade that was a common feature of horseman's knives.
The handles could be either clear horn or tortoise shell. Usually tortoise shell can be confirmed by looking at it under a 10x loupe. It appears to look almost like the layering of wood. Horn examined thusly looks like a series of long parallel lines usually.
I think the knife may be of French origin rather than Swedish.Two things say this to me:
The fancy pivot pin reinforcements(look like flowers) and the crescent shape of the nail marks. The latter is a characteristic of early French made knives. There used to be a website that decoded a lot of early French tang stamps but when I tried lofgging onto it I got an error message. If you would like to try it the address is:
www.couteaux-jfl.com/boite_a_outils.htm
It is in French but there are parts that are in English as well.

[sebubski]

Hi. Thanks for all help. French is not a problem, but i think the webside is down. I will try to Google french tang stamps.
Early french ? What year ruffly? Any ide of value?

[Eustace]

Working link to the French site. Unfortunately your stamp is missing.

https://oldbritva.ru/wp-content/uploads ... THIERS.htm

[knife7knut]

Working link to the French site. Unfortunately your stamp is missing.

https://oldbritva.ru/wp-content/uploads ... THIERS.htm

Thanks for finding that Eustace! I'm not sure why the old address doesn't work. I find that a very valuable site for decoding French marks.

[sebubski]

If i look throu a magnifierglas it looks just like wood, so probebly turtel. Any one that have an ide where to go from here?
Is there any big knife forum in europé ? What about "early french",when is that?

[npeters3]

This is a cool knife and a neat thread. Unfortunately I do not know anything about your knife. I have a few horseman's knives or farrier knife, but all of mine have a hoof pick. I would lean more towards a veterinarian's knife also. I hope someone comes along that can give you more answers.
thanks for sharing.