A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America

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thanks for the info! Thing is huge, wonder how much it weighs and where it balances. My guess is it's pretty balanced with that crazy fuller.
I like that dagger as well. With those two blades, a guy wouldn't need much else when it comes to using them for their intended purpose :0
 
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Lorien said:
thanks for the info! Thing is huge, wonder how much it weighs and where it balances. My guess is it's pretty balance with that crazy fuller.
I like that dagger as well. With those two blades, a guy wouldn't need much else when it comes to using them for their intended purpose :0
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I can't recall exactly, but I'd guess that the Lasserre probably balances pretty well. The dagger is interesting too, very well made, unusual for its size and made by another little known maker, Clarenbach & Herder of Philadelphia. C&H were scissor and shear makers, Lasserre was a surgical instrument maker as were many of the best American bowie knife makers.

Mark Z
 
Wow, wow, WOW! Jackpot! Thanks for the post, Buddy.

What a pleasure and challenge shooting this collection. Super clarity, and the grey backdrop simply brings 100% of the visual attention onto the piece. Less is more.

I'm with everyone else: Looking at my calendar and figuring out "What if...?"

Mark, it's a treat seeing you here. :D

Coop
 
WOW!!

Amazing. i will spread the word!

AND being a totally home-body, I rarely get out to much other than the two shows I do and a Hammer-in once a year & rarely do I fly....but I am seriously thinking that this is worth the plane flight for sure!

-DON:)

p.s. If it is OK I would love to print this post and take it to the California Hammer-In this weekend and make an announcement.
 
Mark D. Zalesky said:
I need to clarify that not ALL of the knives in the exhibit are antiques --
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OOPSIE! ;) I'm glad Mark is here to give accurate info about the knives. I'm just the photographer. :D

Thanks to the owners and lenders who came together for this once in a lifetime deal!

Another pistol, Searles engraved like the other one, I believe.
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Guardless coffin bowies - the message is unmistakable. There are so many examples. I like this one. It's just wicked in its elemental simplicity.
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Of course, there are others...
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The kitchen knife of my dreams! :thumbup:
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Don Carlos Andrade said:
If it is OK I would love to print this post and take it to the California Hammer-In this weekend and make an announcement.
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Please feel free to use the pictures and posts to help folks understand the scope and significance of this exhibit.
 
Buddy,
I absolutely love the photo of the multiple potential James Black smaller coffin handles. I can't wait to see the full exhibit.

Tad
 
SharpByCoop said:
Super clarity, and the grey backdrop simply brings 100% of the visual attention onto the piece. Less is more.
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The neutral grey background, while not so exciting, gave me the best chance to have some consistency for the exhibition book, and to avoid color casts which, as you know, require time to fix in post-processing. I quickly discovered while editing the images that some knives showed better against a darker or lighter grey, so I edited accordingly. The least good way of putting these images into a book would be to show them all next to eachother in rows and columns - the difference in backgrounds would stand out too much. The best way to show these knives, IMO, would be full page, borderless, 8.5X11 inches (the book could be even larger than that) because at that size the details are so in your face that it's very powerful visually. Ultimately though, I'm confident that every aspect of this exhibition including the catalog/book will go well. There are a lot of people putting a lot of work into the project, and they're very excited about it too. That's a fun situation from my view - so much help available. For example, I didn't have to keep the knives straight and tagged and logged etc. - none of those worries. One of the things I didn't think about before we started shooting was that everybody needed to wear white gloves while handling the knives, no exceptions. That took some getting used to as Mark and I struggled to balance the tips set the angles of the blades. It was three full days of work in the basement of the museum which was very comfortable. We had a break room with a little kitchen so we could warm up the pizzas! Regarding the museum itself, it is definitely one of the best, and probably THE best smaller museum I've ever seen. Very cool place to have a big high-end exhibition.
 
Don Carlos Andrade said:
p.s. If it is OK I would love to print this post and take it to the California Hammer-In this weekend and make an announcement.
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Please do!

A TON of effort has gone into pulling this event off -- arms were twisted, favors used up, knees are sore from excessive begging, and a number of individuals (such as Buddy) have chipped in to do their part and ensure this is done as well as it possibly can be. It's probably a once-in-a-lifetime deal, a serious bowie knife exhibit at the state museum of Arkansas.

This is for the knife community -- it's an opportunity for knife nuts to personally examine some of the best knives in the world, and also an opportunity to show the rest of the world that knives are interesting, historic, artistic, and just plain cool objects. Please help spread the word and encourage folks to come and see it while they can. I would hate to have someone come up to me after it's all over and say that they never heard about it.

Mark Z
 
Tad Lynch said:
Buddy,
I absolutely love the photo of the multiple potential James Black smaller coffin handles. I can't wait to see the full exhibit.

Tad
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I told somebody the other day that we might have more original guardless coffin bowies together in this exhibit than were ever together when they were being made! :)

I count 15 of them, plus one/two more that will remain in the regular knife gallery, and of course a bunch of coffins with guards. LOTS of variety among them, some minor differences and some major. Some famous knives and some that have never before been illustrated. With Buddy's photos, the exhibit catalog will be a fantastic resource and it should work out to be very affordable.

Mark Z
 
If anyone knows a history student or historian whose studies is concentrating on Civil War or pre-Civil War, early American industry, or just knives, please pass the word on to them. This exhibit will be an occasion in which one can acquire information and details never before available. Whether or not we ourselves are "into" antiques, passing this information on to young, energetic, and educated individuals gives them the opportunity as well. Several levels of knife and knife history related interest converge at this exhibit.
I get to see, and in some case help, with the preparation of this exhibit and there is a lot of work involved. Thanks to Mark Zaleski and Bill Worthen for heading it up, along with Buddy Thomason for his photography as well as the ones whose collections are being shown.
 
Great photos.

I can't stand one of these knives. Never liked the antiques, dislike the reproductions even more.

I do like a slickly built California Ring Dagger, in modern form and materials, but man, they sure knew how to build ugly back in the day.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Thanks for sharing Buddy, I try to get by the museum every time in Little Rock. I will certainly make every effort to catch this exhibit.
 
Kohai999 said:
Great photos ...but man, they sure knew how to build ugly back in the day
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Ha! I won't deny it. But then many makers today are making ugly knives!
I would counter with this; take these three knives below. I'm struck with how many different design themes - that persist today and strongly echo even more distant past times - are present in just these three knives. Ugly will be with us always but to me there are some beautiful bits of design and execution here and there that, having stood the test of time, betray a powerful elemental appeal. Look here:
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Buddy,
What a great job of photographing these knives.
What a great display of history simply put just amazing.
Thanks
Ryan
 
pearl sure holds up well.
 
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