Historical bowie knife pictures

A couple I've posted here elsewhere:

1. By F. Herder of Solingen, probably around 1880:
1aS2XTP.jpg


2. Unmarked, probably made in Sheffield in the mid 1800s:
WNROqWr.jpg

3. By Wostenholm of Sheffield, mid-to-late 1800s:
pT3lVtL.jpg
 
Really nice guys! I notice that actual antiques seem to rarely have a ricasso (the one in post 48 being an apparent exception) that is narrower than the blade, although most modern bowies have that feature. I wonder why that is.
 
Really nice guys! I notice that actual antiques seem to rarely have a ricasso (the one in post 48 being an apparent exception) that is narrower than the blade, although most modern bowies have that feature. I wonder why that is.

I'm not sure that is the case. I mean, it's a simple empirical question, which could be answered by drawing a big enough random sample of historical bowies and seeing how many have a ricasso narrower than the rest of the blade. But just off the top of my head I recall lots of historical pieces that have this feature. And I'm talking specifically about 19th-century pieces made for the American market.

For example, two out of the three pieces I showed in post #42 feature a ricasso narrower than the rest of the blade -- one of them most certainly made in Sheffield for the American market, and the other made in Germany, but patterned after a model by Joseph Rodgers & Sons of Sheffield, made mostly for the American market. Similarly, if you look for instance at the cover of Burton's A sure defence (not to be confused with Zalesky and Worthen's A sure defense), 6 out of the 11 knives shown have this feature (including some that are sheathed if you pay close attention):

a7zmAZo.jpg


In fact, the same can be said of the very first three knives shown in Adams, Voyles, and Moss's The antique Bowie knife book, shared a few posts ago.

Now, what I would say is an important difference between historical (19th-c.) and modern (20th/21st-c.) bowies in this regard is that, when the ricasso is narrower than the rest of the blade, modern pieces often have a portion of the blade above the ricasso that is unbeveled, whereas I don't think I've ever seen this in a historical example. For illustration, compare the very first knife in Adams et al.'s book (left) and a modern Down Under bowie (right):

C1BkeLG.jpg


I'm not sure why this might be, but personally I dislike this feature of many modern knives, because it makes sharpening harder and more problematic. Perhaps it's the fact that many of these knives are sold mostly as wall hangers. But who knows -- after all, knives like the Down Under above are not really harder to sharpen than those knives in which the ricasso is fully aligned with the edge, which were very common back in the day.
 
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I'm not sure that is the case. I mean, it's a simple empirical question, which could be answered by drawing a big enough random sample of historical bowies and seeing how many have a ricasso narrower than the rest of the blade. But just off the top of my head I recall lots of historical pieces that have this feature. And I'm talking specifically about 19th-century pieces made for the American market.

For example, two out of the three pieces I showed in post #42 feature a ricasso narrower than the rest of the blade -- one of them most certainly made in Sheffield for the American market, and the other made in Germany, but patterned after a model by Joseph Rodgers & Sons of Sheffield, made mostly for the American market. Similarly, if you look for instance at the cover of Burton's A sure defence (not to be confused with Zalesky and Worthen's A sure defense), 6 out of the 11 knives shown have this feature (including some that are sheathed if you pay close attention):

a7zmAZo.jpg


In fact, the same can be said of the very first three knives shown in Adams, Voyles, and Moss's The antique Bowie knife book, shared a few posts ago.

Now, what I would say is an important difference between historical (19th-c.) and modern (20th/21st-c.) bowies in this regard is that, when the ricasso is narrower than the rest of the blade, modern pieces often have a portion of the blade above the ricasso that is unbeveled, whereas I don't think I've ever seen this in a historical example. For illustration, compare the very first knife in Adams et al.'s book (left) and a modern Down Under bowie (right):

C1BkeLG.jpg


I'm not sure why this might be, but personally I dislike this feature of many modern knives, because it makes sharpening harder and more problematic. Perhaps it's the fact that many of these knives are sold mostly as wall hangers. But who knows -- after all, knives like the Down Under above are not really harder to sharpen than those knives in which the ricasso is fully aligned with the edge, which were very common back in the day.
Interesting! Admittedly I have no actual evidence at all I was just basing the thought on a trend I thought I was seeing... Until you provided so many contrary examples!!!
 
Now, what I would say is an important difference between historical (19th-c.) and modern (20th/21st-c.) bowies in this regard is that, when the ricasso is narrower than the rest of the blade, modern pieces often have a portion of the blade above the ricasso that is unbeveled, whereas I don't think I've ever seen this in a historical example. For illustration, compare the very first knife in Adams et al.'s book (left) and a modern Down Under bowie (right):

I'm not sure why this might be, but personally I dislike this feature of many modern knives, because it makes sharpening harder and more problematic. Perhaps it's the fact that many of these knives are sold mostly as wall hangers. But who knows -- after all, knives like the Down Under above are not really harder to sharpen than those knives in which the ricasso is fully aligned with the edge, which were very common back in the day.
I would guess that its supposed to act as a sort of finger guard when using the ricasso as a finger choil, to prevent your pointer finger from slipping onto the edge as easily. Just a guess. However, I agree, I dont like that feature very much.
 
So here is some food for thought. This knife is solid and blade is a full tang and thick. But it’s only 9 inches over all. Made by Wade and Butcher…so is it a Bowie knife?

Perhaps a bowie in need of a descriptive modifier, or more (as in small spear-point bowie :))? But then the question would be whether this particular example was intended for the American market or not. In general, I try to steer away from discussions about whether a specific example is or isn't a bowie, since everybody seems to have their own definition.
 
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So here is some food for thought. This knife is solid and blade is a full tang and thick. But it’s only 9 inches over all. Made by Wade and Butcher…so is it a Bowie knife?


I always thought this style was called a "California Bowie." Am I off base?
 
I always thought this style was called a "California Bowie." Am I off base?
No…those are ones made in California like Price or W&F. This is made in Sheffield for the American market. But I could see how you could make the connection. The California Bowie’s are sorta the exotics of Bowie’s. And have their own distinct style and construction. Room
 
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