Vintage Mother Of Pearl (MOP) Knives

[bernynhel]

Nice looking fruit knives Bill

Thanks, I appreciate it.

Thought I'd post this little knife since you don't exactly see one every day. In fact I haven't found a pic of one like it in pearl in any of my books but have seen one listing for it under Tested XX knives and one photo of a Bradford with "square" bolsters but with green bone I would have missed the Bradford pic because for some reason it was in the Tested XX section and I just happened to pick up the book with my thumb stuck in the middle on that page.

I wouldn't mind any comments or opinions on this knife. Enjoy. - Bill

[Just Plain Dave]

That are pretty knice!!!

[bernynhel]

That are pretty knice!!!

Thanks and hello to my 1 time junk knife trading pard - I just rediscovered a whole cigar box full of those pitiful things so now I have practice blades for my new belt grinder!

[bernynhel]

Nice little Remington 3" senator (R6104)

And cap-bolstered 3" whittler (R6534)

[msteele6]

In regards to the 8383 that knife is one of THE most difficult knives for me to venture an opinion on. The reasons are numerous but I'll try to articulate them. First off, being a pearl handled knife it has no shield, making for one less identifying characteristic. Second, being pearl, there is no characteristic jigging pattern to help with identification and authentication. Thirdly, Case (among a minority of old line knife manufacturers) almost NEVER had an etch on their knives. With a Remington, you can tell immediately whether it is likely that the blade has been buffed simply by the lack of an etch, with a Case, no such luck.

With all of those caveats, my comment on the knife is that it appears to be authentic, albeit cleaned. I would say that it had been cleaned by comparing the roughness of the tang to the pristine appearence of the blades. Very rare to see a knife this old in such pristine condition, however, if ever a knife would be a candidate for such care over a long period, it would be a knife such as this one.


JMO

[bernynhel]

...With all of those caveats, my comment on the knife is that it appears to be authentic, albeit cleaned. I would say that it had been cleaned by comparing the roughness of the tang to the pristine appearance of the blades. Very rare to see a knife this old in such pristine condition, however, if ever a knife would be a candidate for such care over a long period, it would be a knife such as this one...JMO

Thanks, I appreciate that. Also no help are the fact that the pins and liners aren't the same material so no tell-tale new rivets giving away a re-handle. Info is scarce - couldn't find a pic of one anywhere with the square-ish bolsters other than a green bone Bradford pic'd on pg 290, Sargent's 7th ed and it was a fluke I found it since 290 is the Tested XX/XX, etc section.

The pic below indicates a relatively light cleaning considering the extreme possibilities out there and notice the scant pitting on blade near the shadow so maybe being a gent's knife meant it was kept fairly well and the snug fit of the blades when closed tends to suggest that, as well.

Thanks, again. I'll put it on eBay. 10% off AAPK members.


-Bill

cas8383_110_hf.jpg (67.44 KiB) Viewed 2862 times

[wlf]

Nice knives Bill.

[FRJ]

There sure are some nice knives here.
I got this nice Griffon in today. Half stops x 4. I hope you like it.

[bernynhel]

Wow! Now there's something you don't see every day...I've never seen one - a hundred year old MOP "Griffon". In really nice condition! So what's not to like? Thanks for posting that!

- Bill

[Lawrence]

Extremely tasty knives on this thread Here's a couple that I recently picked up...Harrison Brothers & Howson Sheffield, and Swanworks Ohligs Germany. Can anyone tell me anything about the Swanworks? Goins doesn't say much and I'm wondering if it is older than 1920? cheers

[FRJ]

Thanks Bill.
Nice knives Lawrence.

[knifegirl888]

Bret & I bought a few mother of pearls in Lewisburg. Here is an old Henckels that I looked at before but this year I couldn't pass up.

[FRJ]

WOW! What a catch. Nice knife, to say the least.

[knifegirl888]

Thanks, Joe! I bought this knife about an hour before I bought the Beaver Falls knife. I couldn't believe my luck that day!

[Miller Bro's]

That`s a beauty Kathy!

Is the rim of the magnifying glass made of horn?

It looks like it has a couple nibbles, that is my kind of knife

[knifegirl888]

MB,

It does appear to have some bites. I am not sure if it would be horn or tortoise? Does tortoise shell get bites like that?

So nice to hear from you!

Kathy

[Miller Bro's]

I am not sure if it would be horn or tortoise? Does tortoise shell get bites like that?

Yes both will get eaten by those nasty beetle larvae!

So nice to hear from you!

Thanks Glad to see you and Bret posting again

[eyeselect]

There's some real beauties here! I have some I'll post sometime soon. My favorite is a small empire with gold bolsters and shield. I like it because of its condition and the fact that I live in Winsted Connecticut where it was made.

[FRJ]

Hey eyeselect, I live in Terryville.

[eyeselect]

Joe,
Hello neighbor.

[knife7knut]

There's some real beauties here! I have some I'll post sometime soon. My favorite is a small empire with gold bolsters and shield. I like it because of its condition and the fact that I live in Winsted Connecticut where it was made.

Don't know if you saw this one from my collection;an Empire Winsted with pearl scales and sterling silver beaded bolsters and it also has it's original purse.Also pictured is a stag scaled pen and an ebony scaled Wharncliffe.

[MrBlister]

Wish I knew
whot this thang worth???
Plse advise and thanks in advance..
WINCHESTER lobster.. perfect pearl.

HET Puma Pants

[eyeselect]

knife7knut,
I think that I have seen your empire before or possibly one like it. As soon as I saw it I thought to myself, those bolsters look just like the ones on my empire. Here's some of my MOP knives. The one in the middle that is hard to make out the tang stamp is a H. Boker.

[knife7knut]

Love those pearls! That Empire with the gold bolsters and shields is just fabulous! I have a bunch of pearls;some in great shape and some in not so great shape.Here are a few:

[eyeselect]

knife7knut,
I think you have more pearls than I do knives.

Fun Fact
Thomas Edison electrocuted small animals to show the world how dangerous it was to use AC (alternating current). He did it in order to discredit his rival Nikola Tesla for the Nobel Prize. Edison and Telsa would have won and shared the prize, but Edison refused to share it. When the Nobel committee caught wind of Edison’s intent to refuse the prize they gave it to Sir William Henry Bragg and William Lawrence Bragg for their work in the analysis of crystal structure using X-rays.