Some German miniatures

knife7knut · Post by **knife7knut** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 12:39 am

Bought most of these many years ago.Just purchased a couple more the other day.Very precision pieces;supposedly mad in Germany around the early 1900's.

Edgewise · Post by **Edgewise** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:17 pm

Fascinating collection, Knife7knut.
I notice they all have bails or lanyard holes. Any idea of their functional purpose? Or were they promotional?

Gunsmoke47 · Post by **Gunsmoke47** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:20 pm

Those are very cool knife7knut. Were they made as a collector item? I myself have never seen or heard of them before. What's the story on them? Kelley

knife7knut · Post by **knife7knut** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:41 pm

I can only theorize why they were made.I have in my collection several sub-miniature pin fire pistols that are fully functional.These were supposedly made by apprentice gunsmiths to show their skills.It is possible that these knives were made for the same purpose.

What amazes me about them is that they are fully functional:from the tiny nail marks to the back springs and pins.The two bladed one is an exceptional piece.I have multi-blade gentlemen's knives that are not all that much bigger that exhibit the same craftsmanship.

One of the makers was Daniel Peres who produced many styles of knives around the turn of the century(1900 that is).One of the minis I have is stamped with his name.

There was supposedly one of these multi-bladed miniatures(an inch long folded)at a show many years ago that sported forty blades! It was apparently stolen there and never recovered,Sure would have loved to see that one.

I will try and get some pictures up of the multi-bladed ones.

smiling-knife · Post by **smiling-knife** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 5:43 pm

Great 'little' collection knife7knut

. Given their size, I imagine the lanyard holes and bails allowed the owner to attach them to a watch chain or key fob etc to reduce the liklihood of loss. I have read about Sheffiled makers producing knives the size of a grain of rice. As you mentioned, the ultimate test of the cutlers skill. Looking forward to seeing your multi-blade e.g.s.

s-k

Ringmaster · Post by **Ringmaster** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 9:00 pm

K7K, my compliments on that group of mini's ! They would be hard to find, for a lotta reasons, and because they'd be hard to see, in the first place.

S-K.... a grain of rice ?? Really ? Heck, I can't even HOLD a grain of rice, much less work on it ! I think that would be a fascinating endeavor.

I'm impressed,
JR

Duffy · Post by **Duffy** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 2:48 am

Those are real interesting knives knife7knut, did they cost a pretty penny?

They made me wide eyed.