Need info on this antique cleaver pls...very unusual!

A

avalonrose

Joined
Apr 13, 2011
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I hope it's okay to x-post. I had posted this on the kitchen board but after posting I looked and it didn't seem like there is much activity there. i hope you all can help me identify this piece.

I bought this cleaver from a guy whose father was a butcher in the West. He said it dated to at least 1930. This is the most unusual cleaver i have ever seen...it has two big brass pins on both sides with inlaid brass stars surrounding them. Full tang, veneered/polished dark wood. The thing is pristine, and heavy, heavy steel. It is not marked as far as I can tell. I'm wanting to sell it and having a hard time figuring out who could have made it and what the value might be. I'm just throwing this out there, but Does this look like a Richtig to you? If it were, would his sig be on the tang, underneath the wood? i would appreciate ANY info at all about it. Maybe the shape, construction will be familiar to some of you. Thank you!

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thank you so much for the replies!...I admit I don't know anything about knives at all. So you definitely think it is made by hand, then, aka custom knife, instead of one of the major companies? Is there any way to tell by the looks of it that's it's around 80-100 years old? That's what I was told.
 
Have a mod move it over to the BR Levine sub forum. Lot of knowledge over there.--KV
 
It looks very close to a Foster Bros cleaver due to the handle style. Here's an example that I have.

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Hey I think you're right. Mine has those same little grooves on either side of the handle. Were most Foster Bros. unmarked, or if they were, where on the cleaver would they be located. I might have to go over this with a loupe. Thanks so much for that info.
 
I have a similar cleaver, but I am not able to access it as I am in europe and not in the USA. It does have the same lines on the handle and the spine looks the same. I bought it in Pennsylvania at an antique store for very little ($15.00) money. The blade is about 9 inches long, and does not have so much width. I was told it was probably over fifty years old, but no other information. I do not recall any makers marks on it.
Thanks for posting yours, as I am curious as to what its history is as well. I was thinking of taking it to a knifemaker who does forge work and have him work it into a different kind of knife.
 
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