Anyone identify this stamp?

[olderdogs1]

Need some help identifying this stamp. Any help appreciated.

Tom

[stockman]

I no help on the stamp, but nice old knife.

Harold

[knife7knut]

Not a stamp I've seen before but it looks to be a pre-1900 English knife judging by the square kick,half stops,and the tang flush with the bolsters.Are the bolsters and liners one piece or are they soldered on? If they are one piece it could be Civil War era.JMHO.

[olderdogs1]

I thought English as well. The bolsters and liners are one piece.

Thanks,
Tom

[kootenay joe]

I cannot discern what the components are of these markings. Are there letters of the alphabet or shapes of known objects like a horn or dog or faucet, etc. ?
Could the markings be of Arabic characters or Chinese ?
kj

[olderdogs1]

I can't make out any letters or animals when I look at the stamp.

Tom

[kootenay joe]

Every USA, British or German knife i have that are marked on the tang, has markings that i can 'read', i.e. either letters of the alphabet or of an object i can recognize (e.g. Hen & Rooster shows chickens). This suggests that OP knife is from somewhere other than these 3 countries and possibly from somewhere that does not use our alphabet.
India is also a possibility with these markings intended to mimic a British Hallmark and thus fool a novice knifer into thinking it is vintage Britain in origin
kj

[knife7knut]

Every USA, British or German knife i have that are marked on the tang, has markings that i can 'read', i.e. either letters of the alphabet or of an object i can recognize (e.g. Hen & Rooster shows chickens). This suggests that OP knife is from somewhere other than these 3 countries and possibly from somewhere that does not use our alphabet.
India is also a possibility with these markings intended to mimic a British Hallmark and thus fool a novice knifer into thinking it is vintage Britain in origin
kj

KJ: While I agree with you that most of the makers have a clearly marked name on them I don't think this one is from India or even a recent production. There are too many visible factors(IMHO) such as the flush tang;one piece liners/bolsters;square kick;and even the color of the steel that point to it being quite old. Another possibility and I admit that this is a stretch is that it may be much older than we think;back to a time when a lot of the cutlers were illiterate and used stamps of various objects to mark their knives. Makers such as Jonathan Crookes who used the heart & pistol trademark. In Bernard Levine's books he has a section near the front of early cutler's marks. This particular one may not be in there but it might be worth researching. If it is in fact that old it is in remarkable condition which is rare but unheard of. Again JNHO.

[kootenay joe]

k7k, in my above post i was not implying that this OP knife might be recent. It looks old to me and as you say, maybe very old.
My understanding of India & knives is that Indian cutlers began copying Sheffield knives long ago. By 1850 Britain had a large presence in India and Sheffield knives were in their 'Golden Age'. Most people in India would not have been able to 'read knives' but they knew of Sheffield knives, so perfect situation for faking knives goes back over 150 years. But when did this faking actually start ? I have never seen this topic discussed and i do not want to derail this thread any further.
I think your idea of it being very old British is likely correct.
kj

[danno50]

That is a nice old knife. The two marks on the pile and the mark sides are different and they must represent something? I looked through Levine's list of Sheffield and London knife makers touch marks last night. Most of them are verbal descriptions of the marks and not actual pictures and I could not find any that sounded to me like either of these. Maybe made for a secret society of some kind?
Dan

[cato]

still, looking for anything with these type markings , I don't think it is ENGLAND, they had fairly strict rules for markings..

I do think it is pre- 1866 , I believe one of the marks is a Province or City mark ..

hard to make out,,, what they are whether plant, animal, mythical, or celestial marks

the first mark.. when i look at it, looks like letters at top with fish design to left
the bottom of it looks to be like 3 stars in first and shells in second half ..
but if i blow it up looks different optical allusion i guess

second mark,, looks to be wreath or plant or two fish like Pisces still hard to make out
but i will keep looking ,

[olderdogs1]

Thanks, I appreciate all of the help.

Tom

[kootenay joe]

Tom, we have not really been of any help !
Thank you for posting this knives that has us all bamboozled. In searching for answers we often learn something useful but not related to knife in question, so it is a valuable post.
kj