Western Germany Pearl Whittler: Vintage ?

[kootenay joe]

This is a 3 1/2" Equal End Pearl Whittler, marked master blade only: front tang "Western Cutlery Co/New York". back tang has a logo, head of a mythic animal ?? shown below in picture.
This knife is unused & looks pristene. Even the inside surfaces of liner and springs are spotless. I think this is beyond what professional cleaning can do without taking apart the knife ? but i am not sure about this.
LG4 lists "Western Cutlery Co." as a import brand (Germany/Austria) for Weibusch & Hilger N.Y.C. 1874-1914.
No country of origin on this knife so pre 1891 ?
Is this really an old knife ?
No ?
Yes, but professionally cleaned ?
Yes and has always been properly stored ?
thanks for the help, kj

[Miller Bro's]

Definitely old and in original condition properly stored knife

[kootenay joe]

"Definitely old and in original condition"
Thank you Dimitri. I have learned to be suspicious of 'vintage' knives that look 'perfect', so i very much appreciate the re-assurance.
kj

[peanut740]

Ditto.

[Mason]

Nice example. The logo stamp is actually a bull (Western Cutlery Co. registered trade mark) with wild hair.

[RobesonsRme.com]

Maybe it was meant to be a bison. Looks happy, doesn't he?

Kinda sweet.

Charlie Noyes

[kootenay joe]

What a beautiful trademark ! Thank you Mason.
This knife is one of many that i have 'won' on ebay in the last 1-2 years. All are pearl, most are circa 1900 vintage, and they are in similar well preserved condition like this Western whittler. Most are German, with some Sheffield and some USA.
The other similarity is price: most were won in the $50 range.
To me these are exquisite knives and fine examples of what a knife was like should you have walked into a cutlery store 100+ years ago. Yet so few others are fascinated by these knives that they seem to be worth little.
Seems odd to me.
kj

[wlf]

There's something about those eyes,but I could use some of that wild hair.

Roland,That's a nice knife.I have a Western Cut Co Germany whittler too. It's well used and handled with what i call pressed stag.Never have scanned it.