Rare Hieroglyphic Knife

[smiling-knife]

Hi. Just bought this knife on ebay . This is a 100 year old Boker pen knife with a very ornate Sterling silver handle. Can you decypher the symbols on the handle of this knife ? Hint a) the seller listed it as fraternal/religious; b) he/she is way off. If you know what this knife represents, please post your overall response and identify the 9 symbols from left to right. Marks out of 10 for all contestants in a day or so:) s-k

[jabberwocky]

Most interesting, S-K! They almost appear to be crests or shields of some
sort...I'll have to get back to you on this one!

Never seen anything like it at all!

[jonet143]

ok, but... is this a brittish thing or more universal? i've been searching to no avail.

[sunburst]

I am thinking it is British as well...OK sk give us a few more clues...

[BrokenCamillus]

This knife shows what were probably the shields of the Canadian provinces at the time. They have added a few more since this knife was made, and it is hard to match them all correctly.

Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Quebec are the ones I can get the other two have been changed too much.

Sorry they're not in order.

[smiling-knife]

Well done BC. OK maybe not so rare but a nice bit of history on a knife. It has particular appeal for me as I am in fact a citizen of your great friend to the North. This was made in 1907 which was the 40th anniversary of Canada's foundation as an independent country. Others correctly identified the British connection in the provincial crests. The order from left to right represent the order of joining. The original four in 1867 were Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Alberta and Saskatchewan had just joined the federation in 1905 so the number of provinces was nine at the time as BC pointed out. The two BC missed were Manitoba which is the crest with the Buffalo and Nova Scotia, the third one from the left. Newfoundland and Labrador had not yet attained provincial status. Anyway, thanks for playing along everyone. s-k

[jonet143]

hey s-k, canada eh? how did you end up in great brittain?
that is a cool knife with a lot going for it. i was lost trying to figure how those shields related to g.b.

[smiling-knife]

Hey Johnnie... as a boy I was kidnapped by gypsies and sold into a life as a chimney sweep. I'm trying to buy my way back but whenever I get a little money saved I spend it on knives or corkscrews Most of the symbols have direct British connections Union Jack, cross of St. George, Lion rampant (Scottish) as in New Scotland (Nova Scotia). I think this is a great little bit of history. Thanks for your comments. s-k

p.s. where in Texas do you live?

[jonet143]

gypsies huh? i'm in north tejas. weatherford is west of cowtown (fort worth).
i could see the british connection but i did'nt put it with our northern neighbor. if you do a search of nine, you get everything from the occult to ? good quiz and thanks for sharing.

[BrokenCamillus]

S-K I am a Vermont native whose grandparents came from the Canadian Province of Quebec so I have some experience in recognizing the symbology of the nation of conflicted heritage.

The problem I experienced was finding all of the crests in modern references. Pictures of the current flags were what I had to go by to decipher the old crests.

Maybe if I'd taken more time I could have told you the whole story.