'Made in Finland' Fixed-Blade Knife: Is It a "Tapio Wirkkala" Puukko?

wlwhittier

wlwhittier

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As is so often the case, I'm confused. This knife is obviously Finnish; it states Made in Finland on the right hand side of the blade, below the fuller...which has other apparent writing which I am not only unable to read, but cannot successfully photograph as it is on the concave 'back' of that fuller. I'll keep trying.
The carbon steel blade is 4 1/8" long, saber-ground, with fullers both sides; the spine is nearly straight, with a very subtle 'dip' in the last third of its length; there is no ricasso, as is traditionally correct I believe. The grip is a rectangular octagon of bone, very simply finished with brass caps, without a guard; it's 3 7/8" long, 13/16" deep, 9/16" wide. The legend inscribed on its upper surface may be an owner's name & date...or perhaps the maker's; I don't find that name in an admittedly cursory search.
Tapio Wirkkala was a renown Finnish designer; his name is attached almost invariably to eBay listings for Puukko knives, but I wonder at the accuracy of the use of his name for so very many of these type blades.
I'll be grateful for any clarification about this knife, an' for all your illuminating comments an' suggestions. Thanks for lookin'!

P1420384.jpegP1420386.jpegP1420387.jpegP1420392.jpegP1420393.jpegP1420388.jpeg
 
If you have an Android phone, you can hold down the home button and circle anything on the screen now to do an AI image search.

I'm sure someone knows exactly what this is but in the meantime the results I got suggest it's probably 1920-30, and the engraving is the maker and city.

Here’s a forum dedicated to them with a very similar inscription on a different blade:

Puukko for comment and translation - Ethnographic Arms & Armour

Puukko for comment and translation Ethnographic Weapons
www.vikingsword.com

I love the beautiful simplicity and practicality of this knife. It looks like it'd be equally at home fileting a fish, gutting a deer, or intricately carving wood. I bet that steel is easy to get razor sharp too.
 
It says Iisakki Järvenpää Kauhava. Thats the makers name and the town where the knives are made. It seems to have been rehandled by somebody at some point apparently......

Järvenpää knives mostly look like this-
lPYFtEW.jpg
4gpiI9P.jpg

And sometimes are more decorative
rmJMjah.jpg
 
wlwhittier said:
As is so often the case, I'm confused. This knife is obviously Finnish; it states Made in Finland on the right hand side of the blade, below the fuller...which has other apparent writing which I am not only unable to read, but cannot successfully photograph as it is on the concave 'back' of that fuller. I'll keep trying.
The carbon steel blade is 4 1/8" long, saber-ground, with fullers both sides; the spine is nearly straight, with a very subtle 'dip' in the last third of its length; there is no ricasso, as is traditionally correct I believe. The grip is a rectangular octagon of bone, very simply finished with brass caps, without a guard; it's 3 7/8" long, 13/16" deep, 9/16" wide. The legend inscribed on its upper surface may be an owner's name & date...or perhaps the maker's; I don't find that name in an admittedly cursory search.
Tapio Wirkkala was a renown Finnish designer; his name is attached almost invariably to eBay listings for Puukko knives, but I wonder at the accuracy of the use of his name for so very many of these type blades.
I'll be grateful for any clarification about this knife, an' for all your illuminating comments an' suggestions. Thanks for lookin'!
Click to expand...

Yours is a Puukko style knife. It is not a "Tapio-wirkkala puukko. That one has a synthetic handle of a specific shape. And it was 12C27 stainless steel (not marked as such on the blade, but that's the steel that was used. Yours is wood and carbon steel.
I have one.
Here's a confirmatory link.
nordiskaknivar.wordpress.com

Tapio Wirkkala Puukko

Tapio Wirkkala (2 June 1915 – 19 May 1985) was a Finnish designer who was trained as a decorative carver and sculptor. He graduated in 1936 from The Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki and in …
nordiskaknivar.wordpress.com nordiskaknivar.wordpress.com
 
It's beginning to look like the blade was re-handled in '76 by Meta Stefanov...'they' were apparently an accomplished antler/bone/ivory carver, based on a single appearance of one of their works in an online auction.
Additionally, the handle on mine is non-traditional for a Puukko, to an extreme degree.
ALSO: The butt-cap in my original pic#5 above, on close inspection showed a faint pentagonal star & the initials M S...I gently cleaned that surface an' was able to capture what must certainly clinch the question of who Meta Stefanov was in relation to this Puukko. So I think we're done with my puzzle! Thank you all, for your interest an' helpful comments; I am most grateful!
 

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wlwhittier said:
Did...without result. Thanks, tho...
Click to expand...
Look harder......
VernonRemington

Thread 'RIP Charlie Mike'

CA454B0E-C389-4FC6-ADC2-CE82C7F066B3.jpeg Just saw the news on Instagram and it looks like Charlie Mike/ CMFTW has passed away. This is a huge shock to me and I’m still processing it.

I never had the chance to meet Matt in person, but talked on the phone and had occasional correspondence over Instagram. He’s probably the reason I checked instragram as much as I did.

He was always very welcoming and cool, answering any questions I had about knives in general.

I’m lucky enough to own 3 of his custom fixed blades. Now these have a little extra meaning for me.

Pouring out an energy drink for you Matt.... The...
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Arathol said:
Look harder......
VernonRemington

Thread 'RIP Charlie Mike'

CA454B0E-C389-4FC6-ADC2-CE82C7F066B3.jpeg Just saw the news on Instagram and it looks like Charlie Mike/ CMFTW has passed away. This is a huge shock to me and I’m still processing it.

I never had the chance to meet Matt in person, but talked on the phone and had occasional correspondence over Instagram. He’s probably the reason I checked instragram as much as I did.

He was always very welcoming and cool, answering any questions I had about knives in general.

I’m lucky enough to own 3 of his custom fixed blades. Now these have a little extra meaning for me.

Pouring out an energy drink for you Matt.... The...
  • Like
  • Love
  • Sad
Click to expand...

Miss.that.guy........ Funny fella...........And cool chisel grrinds......👍👍👍
 
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