All About Pocket Knives

Miller Bro's wrote:Wow! I can't believe three years have gone by since I started this thread.

Time to add another amazing Sheffield masterpiece to this thread.

Fantastic example, Wostenholm?
Do you have a picture of the front side?

Mason wrote:Fantastic example, Wostenholm?
Do you have a picture of the front side?

Yes Wostenholm, several more pictures of the knife.

At the time this knife came up at auction it's estimated value was $15,000- $25,000. It actually sold for $11,000 + 23% buyers premium.

Here is another gem from that auction, G. Wostenholm in it's original fitted case. The pre auction estimate was $30,000-$50,000 it sold for $24,000 + 23% premium.

That might be the most impressive one yet!

When & where was the auction these knives came from ?
If the auction was in USA for knives already in USA, then who brought these masterpieces into USA from Britain ?
I would think for these knives the provenance is known.
kj

Most of these if not all were featured in the book Sheffield Exhibition Knives.

http://www.biblio.com/book/sheffield-ex ... hgodfy8ORA

Miller Bro's wrote:

Mason wrote:Fantastic example, Wostenholm?
Do you have a picture of the front side?

Yes Wostenholm, several more pictures of the knife.

At the time this knife came up at auction it's estimated value was $15,000- $25,000. It actually sold for $11,000 + 23% buyers premium.

Yes, this and the following knife are just simply incredible!!!
Both have actually sold on various auctions a few times over the past twenty five years.

Thought I would add these pictures to this thread.The images came from the book:"The Rodgers Exhibition & Ceremonial Knives and other fine selected cutlery items" published by James F.Parker(with photography by Bruce Voyles) sometime in the 1980's I believe. These knives belonged to Jim and this was a sort of auction catalog.
The last three pictures in post # 2 are reproductions that Jim had made for sale. For those that thought Parker's knives were of sub-par quality;I own two of these and they are very nice reproductions. Anyway here are the pictures.If anyone has any questions about them I can supply the book's info.

Page 2

Thought I'd throw these in of my two Parker repro knives. Strangely enough though I bought them a couple years apart they have the same serial number.

Thanks for posting those K7Knut

So last year I was at a antique market and came across the "exhibition" knife below - NOT my knife and only took photos... half the blades were broken (there were still about 5-6 tangs of broken blades in the liners) & others lacked snap, Mop cracked and chipped, and the knife was in just plain poor shape... Also there were not any tang stamps - just one blade had a small "barrel" etch (you can see it on broken blade to the left of dog grooming comb on mark side).... for some reason I kept thinking German made as well... just a guess.. anyway if I remember the guy wanted $125-150 for it... at the time I didn't have the cash nor did the knife really excite me other than the fact it was an exhibition knife... and if I saw it again not sure I would buy it even at this time... but thought I would share it on this thread - though it is not what I would consider Sheffield Quality (even if it was Sheffield due to condition)... curious as to what others may think...

The pics are from my phone - he let me take a few photos so I shot the mark and pile sides...

LB, neat knife ! i have not seen that style of front 'bolster'. i think it could be a clue as to country of origin. i have not seen a hair comb in a quality knife before. Not a Sheffield knife is my assessment, so don't assume it's right.
kj

LongBlade wrote:Thanks for posting those K7Knut
Also there were not any tang stamps - just one blade had a small "barrel" etch (you can see it on broken blade to the left of dog grooming comb on mark side).... for some reason I kept thinking German made as well... just a guess..

The barrel trademark was used by Daniel Peres which would make it of German origin. Even in that condition I would have bought it just because it is so unusual. Here is one with a comb in it made by W.H.Morley.

Are they combs or dog groomers?

I realize they do not look like dog stripping tools, but they don't look like combs for humans either, unless they were for mustaches.

Charlie

Charlie - I called it a dog grooming comb - I really don't know the proper terminology but like you I'm sure I have seen those pocket knives for dog grooming that sport them...

Thanks KJ and K7Knut

KJ - I agree that it looked German and K7Knut confirmed - actually found it in Levines myself prior to seeing your reply K7Knut but thanks!! and you beat me to the punch on figuring it out - took me while paging through Goins until I saw the barrel figure after Peres, and confirmed it in Levine's book.

K7Knut - I did think about buying it but the condition was dismal... it would have been a relic of an Exhibition knife and if it was made in Sheffield I may have considered or try to get the price down (but even when I first saw it I doubted it was Sheffield so I passed on it - at least I got photos )... Honestly while in fact it was unique to me I just could not justify the price in my head when I thought about what I could buy in much better condition and a much better fit for my collecting... I try to stay focused which is better for my wallet.... I didn't walk away, go home and say - Nuts I should have bought it so no regrets

Kind of a fine line between an exhibition knife, presentation model, and a high grade "standard" model from some 19th century European cutlers.
Enclosed is a very fine but still "off the shelf" pearl 18 blade folder with two insert tools from the German firm of "Dittert". An accompanying ad from 1908 lists a similar model as selling for $10.50 which was five times that a Wostenholm multi-blade sportsman model of the same time period. While it is a wonderful knife, I wouldn't put it in the "Exhibition" category because of its general availability.

I know that defining what a particular knife might be is strictly a matter of accumulated knowledge I would offer this:
An Exhibition knife to me is something that is strictly a one-off creation that is meant solely to display the cutler's skills and to act as a selling point for their more mundane products.
A Presentation knife could be a one-off but more than likely is a very limited production piece with engraving to suit the particular application which makes it a one-of-a-kind knife but not an exhibition piece.
High grade knives while limited in production do not have a personalized component. They could be a presentation knife sans the personalizing.
Just my opinion folks;your mileage may vary.

knife7knut wrote:I know that defining what a particular knife might be is strictly a matter of accumulated knowledge I would offer this:
An Exhibition knife to me is something that is strictly a one-off creation that is meant solely to display the cutler's skills and to act as a selling point for their more mundane products.
A Presentation knife could be a one-off but more than likely is a very limited production piece with engraving to suit the particular application which makes it a one-of-a-kind knife but not an exhibition piece.
High grade knives while limited in production do not have a personalized component. They could be a presentation knife sans the personalizing.
Just my opinion folks;your mileage may vary.

Yes, a good general summation. Many books include 18th and 19th century high end standard knives as Exhibition models due to their rarity and condition, which seems mostly acceptable. But I would agree that a true Exhibition knife is a one of a kind work of art.

Quote: "But I would agree that a true Exhibition knife is a one of a kind work of art."
Yes, which means that many of the knives shown in "Sheffield Exhibition Knives" by Claussen et al. are not exhibition knives but are top end production knives. However all are worthy of being shown and if you do not have this book it is well worth the $50 or less, price.
kj

Check this one out - not mine but came across this online -

JY Oliver - 1780-1795 - 400 knives and ivory surrounding the clock

A lot of skill & time went into making this 'knife-clock' ! But the knife blades & tools cannot be used.
This is a 2 yr old quote from Mason: "Both have actually sold on various auctions a few times over the past twenty five years."
I would like to know if over these 25 years, did the prices increase or decrease ?
kj

I came across this little gem while doing an image search for an unrelated cutlery item.

I alerted Dimitri (Miller Bros) to it and he said it needed to be posted here.

It's less than one inch long when closed.

This is the URL for the website where this Joseph Rodgers and Sons, circa 1850, miniature exhibition knife is listed for sale.

They list other very interesting miniature replicas, etc:

https://www.waynedriskillminiatures.com ... lioCats=27

More photos:

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