Can anyone identify this?

Dickens · Post by **Dickens** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:11 pm

A friend of mine owns this old Bowen Cutlery knife. From what he's been able to determine, it was made sometime prior to 1900. It's very heavy and has a horn handle. Any help would be appreciated.

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:57 pm

The only reference I can find is in John Goins' "Encyclopedia of Cutlery Markings."
All he has is:
BOWMAN CUTLERY CO. GERMANY - g. 1900-1920.
The g. means He guesstimates that to be the approximate date of the knife.

tjmurphy · Post by **tjmurphy** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 2:58 pm

GOOD GRIEF!!! THAT'S HUGE!!!

Dickens · Post by **Dickens** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:07 pm

tjmurphy wrote:GOOD GRIEF!!! THAT'S HUGE!!!

And it's really heavy. Any idea what it would have been used for?

treefarmer · Post by **treefarmer** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:10 pm

Being the guard is so big and the blade so thick, could that have been a sword at one time?

Treefarmer

orvet · Post by **orvet** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 3:26 pm

treefarmer wrote:Being the guard is so big and the blade so thick, could that have been a sword at one time?
Treefarmer

I think that is very possible.
I recall reading that before WWI (I think, it may have been WWII) the US was short on fighting knives and cut down a lot of old swords to issue as fighting knives.

Someone better versed in military history than I am may know more about this.

tjmurphy · Post by **tjmurphy** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 5:10 pm

Maybe a display knife

I don't know that even swords were built that heavy. That handle is massive.

jerryd6818 · Post by **jerryd6818** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 7:21 pm

The steel has an old look to it. The spine on that blade looks like it's 5/8" thick at the guard and the guard looks to be a 1/4" to 3/8" thick. It will be interesting to see what the real story is on this monster.

knife7knut · Post by **knife7knut** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 8:19 pm

An interesting piece to be sure! I have seen custom knives that were made to these proportions but they were never designed to be used rather as an exercise in building.
If indeed the blade is 5/8ths of an inch thick(and it looks to be the case)it would have made a very unwieldy sword.Also most swords would have a very pronounced fuller to keep the weight of the blade reasonable.Also the grip doesn't appear to be long enough to accomodate two hands which would have likely been required just to lift it off the ground.The grip a;so does not look like it was handmade but rather a production piece. I would like to see several views of it against a measured background to get a better idea of it's proportions.

knives-are-quiet · Post by **knives-are-quiet** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 9:56 pm

It's a long shot but could it be a vintage divers knife without the sheath???

JW~

btrwtr · Post by **btrwtr** » Mon Sep 22, 2014 11:19 pm

Looks to me like it could have been a sword at one time albeit a very heavy one to use. The tip does look to be re-profiled and shortened. The stamp looks like a cold stamp. Measurements of the handle would be helpful.

Fantasy knife?

Very interesting piece for sure.

Wayne

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