Parker & Field (Prussia) Serpentine Whittler

[kootenay joe]

This is a good knife; 3 3/8" Serpentine Whittler marked on the master "Parker/& Field" and "Prussia" on the back tang. The secondaries, both long pull Pen blades are marked "Bindley/Hardware" on one and "Fall/River/Cutlery Co" on the other.
I think the handles are Stag but might be bone boiled to soften and then pressed into a textured surface ?
It is in unused condition the only 'issue' is a sliver of Stag missing, back side, spring edge, front half.
I can find very little information about "Parker & Field". I think they were an American wholesaler ?
And anyone have info about "Bindley Hardware" or "Fall River Cutlery Co" ?
Goins says Parker & Field, Prussia, marking is from before 1914, but this is all that is stated there.
Regardless it is a well made vintage 'German' Whittler in all original condition.
kj

[wlf]

I think it's pressed Joe, nice. I have never seen American cutlery co.'s made knife handled such, only English and German.

[kootenay joe]

Lyle, "pressed" what ? bone ?
And this was made in Prussia, not USA.
kj

[Berryb]

I have a small P&F Prussia, not near as nice condition. You're right about not much info, I think I did see that they also imported from Germany. The problem is, when i do research I just read and don't take notes.
Bruce

[wlf]

That was my point Roland,they seem all to be made across the water with some kind of pressed material.

Just what it is ,is a mystery I have tried to solve. I have put off having some laboratory tested to authenticate.I have never seen beetle holes,if it's some form of horn.I've always heard it called pressed stag,not to mean it is made of stag,but I assume made to look like stag. It seems also to have been short lived ,as seen only on late 19th and early 20th century knives.

???

[Dinadan]

Very interesting knife, Joe. Regarding the handle material, are there any Haversian canals or pores visible where the sliver is missing? I cannot say that I ever heard of pressed stag or bone, but I do not collect knives that old, either.

[kootenay joe]

Mel, this type of natural material handles are regularly seen on vintage (at least 100 years) German and British folding knives. A thread in BF by Charlie Campagna tried to decide if these are "boiled bone" or 'altered' Stag. As i recall the outcome was inconclusive but tending toward Stag as the origin. I cannot make out any signs of the canals in the exposed fracture surface but given my lack of experience with bone histology that does not mean they are not there. If i could see Haversian canals that would prove bone. Not being able to see these canals does not prove it to be Stag. (Haversian = named after Clopton Havers)
kj

[Miller Bro's]

Take a piece of cow shin bone and boil it, let me know how soft it gets.

[LongBlade]

Interesting... So here's a wild guess but can it be stag that was considered not good enough for scales, and as such further processed by jigging and dying to produce a usable end product for knife handles... Certainly along the lines of nothing wasted and tossed in the old days..

Hey MB - not sure how soft that shin bone will get but it will make a good soup

[kootenay joe]

Let's not boil up the whole bone. Instead let's cut thin slabs from the ends of the long bones of young cattle. Then we might get softening of the bone enough for the surface to get textured under pressure.
However i think this type of handle material is made from Stag (deer antler).
kj

[wlf]

It is formed in a press,Whatever it is......

[wlf]

I don't know if it's ground and then formed,but it is formed...

[LongBlade]

I don't doubt you for a second Lyle and all those knives I have seen called pressed stag have indeed a very similar look ... well if it formed/pressed than theoretically there must have been a "mold" or template from which these were pressed... so given that if one has 2 knives from the same company both with"pressed stag" than in fact they should be identical in pattern and in small details... now trying to find 2 knives of the same vintage from one company may not be all that easy but this would no doubt nail it down ... No doubt interesting

BTW KJ - Depending upon the plane of the crack and orientation the Haversian canals may be more or less evident...

[kootenay joe]

Anyone have information on "Parker & Field" ? USA importer ? or ??
And what about "Bindley Hardware" or "Fall River Cutlery Co" ?
If you have a Parker & Field knife please feel free to post it here.
thanks, kj

[Berryb]

this is mine. hope it helps.
Bruce

[knife7knut]

This issue of whether the scale material is"pressed stag" or a naturally occurring stag has been debated many times and a few on here. I have probably a hundred or more stag handled knives and each one is unique unto itself. I also have several examples of knives that exhibit this style of stag. They are mostly George Wostenholm and are all small(er) pen knives. I believe on of them is German(a Vom Cleff).
My own personal opinion is that these are naturally formed and not pressed. The only material I have seen that was successfully pressed with designs and letters is clear horn and these were razor scales. I'm sure that stag which is similar in makeup to horn could be heated and pressed but to what end? I would think the cost would have been prohibitive even "back in the day" when producing the best knife at the cheapest amount was the order of the day.
If you examine one of these handles up close you don't see any evidence(at least I don't) of symmetry that is usually associated with handles such as jigged plastic or the like. Just my opinion folks;your mileage may vary.

[wlf]

The question begs, why this material is not seen except on European knives, and why it's use is only in a certain time period.

I don't know if it really even is stag, dust(of what?) ,resins ,a form of horn or what ; but Wostenholm patterns do resemble themselves, but upon close scrutiny not Henckels ?

We need a piece sent to forensics....

[knife7knut]

Here are some closeups of a Wostenholm knife with that handle material.What do you think? Does that REALLY look like it was man made?

[knife7knut]

The question begs, why this material is not seen except on European knives, and why it's use is only in a certain time period.

I don't know if it really even is stag, dust(of what?) ,resins ,a form of horn or what ; but Wostenholm patterns do resemble themselves, but upon close scrutiny not Henckels ?

We need a piece sent to forensics....

One possibility is that at a point in time good stag was becoming harder to find and they were turning to using smaller and smaller antlers.Once it became available again the use of larger stag was resumed.Just a SWAG on my part.It seems to be peculiar to George Wostenholm smaller patterns such as pen knives. It could also be that a normal sized stag doesn't lend itself well to a small knife and would incur a lot of waste.As an aside;I had a small custom bolo tie knife made once by a knifemaker named Jim Turecek from Derby CT.It is a miniature fighter and is locked into place by a tiny spring loaded pin.Both the scales and the sheath are made from stag and Jim said that was the hardest part of making the knife was finding a piece of stag that had the proportionate sized grain to look right on it.Took a year to get it and most of that time was spent looking for the right piece of stag.
I have a bunch of old stag handled knives and quite a few I*XL pieces. The stag scales on each and every one are not only unique but vary widely in form.The same with Puma knives. I have a pre-1964 White hunter that has the most beautifully matched pair of "popcorn"stag scales.Have yet to see another like it.
The same could be said of the practice of "piquing";that is the inlaying of tiny silver pins into horn and pearl scales.It usually applied to razors(horn)and silver fruit knives(pearl) and seems to only have been done for about ten years between 1840 and 1850.

[wlf]

Still have no forensic evidence about handle material, but here is the knife again Roland.As an aside about the handles, my farmers jacks are all about 4”, not small Knives handled with aka pressed stag.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Parker ... OSwHnJb8gx~

[kootenay joe]

Thanks Lyle. Barry helps me to sell some of my knives. That is a very nice knife. Makes me feel sad seeing it For Sale and so far away.
kj

[gsmith7158]

Thanks Lyle. Barry helps me to sell some of my knives. That is a very nice knife. Makes me feel sad seeing it For Sale and so far away.
kj

Roland do you still have that Wester Bros. You bought from me? That one had some nice pressed stag and from Germany of course.

[kootenay joe]

Yes i do. It's a keeper, for now at least.
kj

[Mason]

The question begs, why this material is not seen except on European knives, and why it's use is only in a certain time period.

I don't know if it really even is stag, dust(of what?) ,resins ,a form of horn or what ; but Wostenholm patterns do resemble themselves, but upon close scrutiny not Henckels ?

We need a piece sent to forensics....

One possibility is that at a point in time good stag was becoming harder to find and they were turning to using smaller and smaller antlers.Once it became available again the use of larger stag was resumed.Just a SWAG on my part.It seems to be peculiar to George Wostenholm smaller patterns such as pen knives. It could also be that a normal sized stag doesn't lend itself well to a small knife and would incur a lot of waste.As an aside;I had a small custom bolo tie knife made once by a knifemaker named Jim Turecek from Derby CT.It is a miniature fighter and is locked into place by a tiny spring loaded pin.Both the scales and the sheath are made from stag and Jim said that was the hardest part of making the knife was finding a piece of stag that had the proportionate sized grain to look right on it.Took a year to get it and most of that time was spent looking for the right piece of stag.
I have a bunch of old stag handled knives and quite a few I*XL pieces. The stag scales on each and every one are not only unique but vary widely in form.The same with Puma knives. I have a pre-1964 White hunter that has the most beautifully matched pair of "popcorn"stag scales.Have yet to see another like it.
The same could be said of the practice of "piquing";that is the inlaying of tiny silver pins into horn and pearl scales.It usually applied to razors(horn)and silver fruit knives(pearl) and seems to only have been done for about ten years between 1840 and 1850.

I agree completely with this idea and have not seen what I believe is "Pressed Stag". All the examples I have and have seen are natural stag.
Pressed horn on the other hand, absolutely.

[kootenay joe]

Quote: "All the examples I have and have seen are natural stag."
I take this to mean that the Parker & Field on page 1 and the Wostenholm above have handles made from antler of a member of the deer family.
While i do not doubt this i have not seen an antler with this texture but all antler i have seen is North American. Finding an antler or piece of, with the same surface texture would be conclusive and perhaps lead to an ID of the deer species.
kj