Boker Carving Knife Mfg Symbol

[Mickied]

I have a very old carving knife that has the following mfg symbol stamped on the blade:
M. (arrow w/X on arrow and * symbols top and bottom of X). R.
BOKER (centered under arrow)
Solingen stamped vertically at end of symbol.
Went to knife shops, books, internet, can't find anything resembling this stamp, only Boker tree.
HELP

 

[bernard_levine]

Welcome!

Here are your pictures.

*

Always start with the knife.

Then look at HOW the markings were made.

Finally read what the markings happen to say.

*

1. This is not a carving knife. It is a chef knife.

2. It is not very old. The blade shape, handle shape, and construction are modern. It might possibly be as old as the 1960s, but it is probably newer.

3. It is almost certainly not German. I suspect it was made in Boker's factory in Argentina. The handle looks like South American rosewood, and the handle shape resembles South American kitchen knives I have seen. The layout of the markings remind me of recent Argentinean and Uruguayan knives I have seen, that are also marked SOLINGEN. I don't know what markings were used by that factory in the past. To see their current chef knife line, click this link.

http://www.bokerarbolito.com.ar/profesionales.htm

*

Every knife novice starts out by reading markings. So did I, when I was a newbie. But this is backwards. Start with the knife. Once you know what it is and when it was made, THEN read the markings. Markings have no meaning out of context, apart from the knife they are on.

BRL...

 

[Mickied]

After Mr. Levine's research, the Boeker factory replied (after much research of their archives) that "the knife was manufactured by Boker Remscheid, approxmately 80-100 years ago. The blade is made of carbon steel. I have done subsequent research and discovered that (as we all know) the giant chestnut tree, shading the small Boeker tool factory in Remscheid in the 17th century was used as the Boker symbol. A fire destroyed everything during WWII and one of the few documents recovered was an ad showing the Remscheid symbol along with another one, "the arrow" from the year 1874.
Mickie