A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America

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Spellbinding. The hours spent without 'modern' tools to create these.

Then again, handmade pieces like this will always require small created tools and especially skilled hands.

That the future technology (Digital cameras, internet, software, lighting, etc.) brings it to our senses is a nice juxtaposition.

This is like smelling the cooking coming out of the kitchen. Who doesn't want to sit at the table?!! :D

Coop
 
I'm no poet like Coop:) so all I can say is great stuff. Those cross-hatched handles are wonderful.

Marcel
 
Mark Z will provide additional details later but this is the famous 'Potter folding bowie' that is 6.5 feet OAL!
I shot both sides, blade partially open. The handle is about 4 feet long. Had to do some on-the-spot rain making to actually light it and shoot it. It's so big that I had to make two shots of each side and subsequently stitch them together in Photoshop.

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Yep, that's the actual "Monster Bowie Knife" presented to John Fox "Bowie Knife" Potter by the Republicans of Missouri in 1860. The Frank Leslie's newspaper account of its presentation was included way back in Robert Abels' book "Classic Bowie Knives", but no one in the knife community knew this huge display knife still existed until Norm Flayderman discovered it at the Wisconsin Historical Society while researching for his book "The Bowie Knife, Unsheathing an American Legend". You folks are now the first to see color photos of it.

More info about "Bowie Knife" Potter and the knife can be found here:
http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/museum/artifacts/archives/001252.asp

The Historic Arkansas Museum's staff has done a fantastic job of mounting this historic piece in a dramatic and impressive way. It's one of the focal points of the bowie exhibit, and one of the first things you'll notice when you walk into the exhibit gallery.

Mark Z
 
Mark is busy writing for the exhibit and the book while Lin and the museum folks are in full-on plow mode with only 2 weeks until the grand occasion.
My part is done for now. I've processed all the images. I'm pumped about both the exhibit and the book, which we hope :D might be ready in time for the Little Rock AKA show in February (or soon after) and available through the museum.
Enjoy, and find a way to see the exhibit!
Bonus Images for those who made it this far! :thumbup:
Teddy Roosevelt presentation bowie:
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Mark D. Zalesky said:
You're very welcome. Now, what can you tell me about that TR knife in the Museum of Natural History in NYC? I believe that TR's Tiffany bowie knife (same knife in those famous photos of TR in buckskins) is on loan somewhere, but I didn't ask the family where it was. That's the knife I was originally after, but I jumped at the chance to get this one for the exhibit. This one is quite stunning in person (sculpted in high relief with gold, silver, and rubies), and Buddy's photos of it are going to be absolutely amazing.

Mark Z
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Mark, the TR Tiffany knife was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC last time I saw it maybe 5-6 years ago.
 
Sidehill Gouger said:
Mark, the TR Tiffany knife was in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC last time I saw it maybe 5-6 years ago.
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Thank you sir -- another lead to chase!

Don Hanson III said:
Dang, I don't know how I missed this thread earlier!

Fantastic stuff, Gents!!!
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Come see it when you're down for the Arkansas Show in February. We are going to keep the museum open late one night, after show hours, so makers and showgoers can have the gallery all to themselves for a couple of hours. Bill and I will be around to answer questions and maybe we'll have some other antique bowies available for folks to coon-paw. I think that will be Saturday night but don't quote me on that.

Mark Z
 
As is the case with the Potter "Monster Bowie Knife", I do not believe that the Roosevelt-Dreicer bowie posted above has ever been pictured in color before, you guys are the first to see it in color by way of Buddy's spectacular photos. The sculpting is incredible, it's all in high relief and the eagle's feathers look for all the world like they're real.

This knife gets a case all to itself and you'll be able to view both sides of it. Great pains have been taken to make the more intricate and important knives in the exhibit viewable from both sides -- something I've often wished for when viewing objects in museums.

Mark Z
 
Just in case anyone here lives within range of Little Rock, here's the schedule for opening weekend. All of these events are free and open to the public.

Friday December 13th

12:30 - 4:00 PM Bowie Knife Symposium in the Ottenheimer Theater at the Museum. [talks on Samuel Bell, James Black, folding bowie knives, and counterfeits)

5 - 8 PM Public Opening of the exhibit. Annual Nog-off (eggnog making competition), hors d'oeuvres, and music, all a part of 2nd Friday Art Night at the Museum


Saturday December 14th

10 AM - 12 noon and 1 - 4 PM Bladesmithing in Blacksmith Shop, demonstrations by ABS MastersmithS and ABKA member Lin Rhea

10 AM - 4 PM Knife Film Festival: videos in Ottenheimer Theater at the museum. Showing:
"The Iron Mistress" (1952, Alan Ladd & Virginia Mayo)
"Dirty Work: Arkansas's Knife Heritage from Bowie to Rambo" (2010, documentary)
"The Adventures of Jim Bowie" TV show starring Scott Forbes, first episode "The Birth of the Blade" (1956)
"The Sandbar Duel" documentary for Natchez TV, narrated by Jack Edmondson

Gallery Talks: Curator's Tours of the Bowie Knife Exhibit by Mark Zalesky and Bill Worthen

Special Performances: Jack Edmondson's presentations as Jim Bowie and/or on the Sandbar Fight

10 AM - 4 PM Open House in all museum houses

Mark Z
 
Went to the preview tonight and the exhibit was incredible. I highly recommend folks see this gathering of historic knives. I saw several that I can't remenber seeing in photos. Everyone involved did a great job.

Tad
 
Lin - that is so cool! That's the sculpture I heard so much about. The knife displays look terrific. Can't wait to see the exhibit in person during the AKA show in February.
 
Thanks for the BIG file, Lin! Seen as a headliner on the large wall to the right:

"The days of the Bowie have departed--Gone glimmering down the dreams of things that were...
Nowadays when the desperado wants to drop his man he shoots."
****** Daily Post - January 1899

Compelling narrative and early insight into the what has become the norm.

What an exhibit. Buddy, Mark and Lin: You ROCK!

Coop
 
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