Gustavo C. Vilar Brazilian Bladesmith - PICTURE INTENSIVE!

B

BrB

Joined
Sep 16, 2003
Messages
452
Hello all!

Gustavo sent me those pics of his lattest work to update his webpage, and since I won´t have time to mess with the coding until next week I decided just to post them in advance.

Beware those of you with weak heart.. :D Kidding...

First one is the left hand dagger sent to the Masters of Fire Exhibit in Macau, organized by Mr. Antonio C. Junior . Damascus, stainless guard and pommel and hand carved rosewood.
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Second is a W pattern large bowie with stainless fittings and maple handle.
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Third is the knife made to Dr. David Darom´s new book, 100 knives in the making.
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Integral ass kicker camp knife with sheep horn handle and hand carved silver second bolster. This one found a new home in New York some time ago.
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Very mean integral camp knife in gaucho style, rosewood handle and nice sheath. A vicious cutter!
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Damascus integral hunter with sheep horn handle. That´s a cutie!
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This is a model he calls "dad´s bowie" very cool and distintive bowie design in my humble opinion. This one has stainless hardware, 52100 blade, but I am not sure about the wood.
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Another integral hunter with burl and scucheon. lovely piece!
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Turkish damascus small game hunter! Awsome little knife! Olivewood handle and damascus made along with Sfreddo while the two were studing the pattern.
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Last, but not least, coffin handle bowie called "Joe Coffin" named after a famous D movie character in Brazil that goes by a name that can be traslated as such. Rosewood handle, stainless hardware and mother of perl scucheon.
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Hope you all liked them. Would like to hear your comments as usual!

Cheers!

Jeff Velasco
Brazilian Bladesmiths Website
www.brazilianbladesmiths.com.br
 
Those are all amazingly beautiful pieces,hard to pick a favorite but if I had to I think it would be "Joe Coffin",love that dark rosewood.The Damascus is all incredible!Thanking you for posting the pics. :thumbup: :D :cool:
 
I'm blown away, too much awesome cutlery in one post :D.

Great stuff :thumbup: !

I especially like the turkish damascus and the "Darom one".

Regards Marcus
 
Impressive photos and knives. Such clear talent and skill!

Coop
 
great work, love them all, especially the "Ass Kicker" Integral, and the "W" pattern large Bowie.
 
Awesome knives. I own a few of Gustavo's knives and I have to tell you guys his finish is absolutely superb.

By the way, in case some people are confused, Gustavo is one of two exceptional Brazilian makers with the last name Vilar (the other one being Ricardo).
 
Thank you all for your comments. I knew some of you would show up... Keith for example is quite found of big bowies and Derrik has some taste for hunters... well I am glad you like them.

I would like to say that negociations have started for the Brazilian Bladesmiths website to sell the swords made by Brazilian makers that are in the Masters of Fire Exhibition. So if anyone is interested let me know.
 
Jeff,
Thanks for sharing these images of Gustavo's work. I would echo all that's already been said and add this: Gustavo obviously has the gift of an "artist's eye." By that I mean he works beautiful but subtle curves into the design of each knife. Even the knives that have straight flat spines or straight grind lines are well-balanced with curving lines. Not everyone will agree with me on this but, when I look at a knife in profile I will 'like' the knife or be attracted to it if my 'mind's eye' can superimpose a subtle "S" curve from end to end on top of the profile. Swords/daggers are an exception only with regard to the blade as the handle and guard must have the curves. Very nice work!
Buddy
 
Yep, I definitely like the big bowies, but I like the mid sized ones as well, and that Dad's Bowie is a darn good looking knife. It is not just the bowies that impress me though; the Gaucho camp knives and integral hunters look great as well.
 
Budy, you got that right. It is amazing though, that I never told you about Gustavo's backgroud. His father is well known in his state for being a art blacksmith. He does lots of things from sculpture to elaborate gateways and other stuff alike, so Gustavo was raised in a artistic conceptual environment, if I can use such words. One trait of his work that trully express this is the way he does a litle round bevel between the handle and the boslter in most of his knives. To the unprepared eye it may look like a gap, but if you look closer the handle is perfect and instead of perefctly maching the bolster profile, it has this little thing that you can feel with your fingers and that gives the knife a more subtle organic look, and is indeed dificult to put there properly.

One aspect I see more and more on the knives being made out there is innovation. Everyone is trying to make something diferent either to define the personality of ones work or to have something diferent to raise sales, or watever. Sometimes, IMHO, this desire leads to way too much. Lots of colors, visual information, wild designs, and I wonder what is going on inside the maker's head. It's my taste only, but I tend to like more the subtle and smooth ways to express this artistic view. To use an example, though I admire his story, if I was an paintings collector, I would not buy any Pollocks and would favor impressionists.
 
Very impressive array - thanks for the look Jeff. That little Turkish damascus number is particularly sweet.

Roger
 
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