Never would have thought...

In a previous post I made reference to something of interest that I had learned in reference to Bowie no.1. What I learned is that there is another Bowie that some people in the antique Bowie collecting world consider to be made by James Black that looks very much like Bowie no.1 except that it is less ornate and has a thinner blade. Ron Newton, John Fitch, Jim Batson, Ken Durham and some other makers got the chance to inspect and handle this knife at the September, 2001 Antique Bowie Symposium in Winston Salem, NC. It seems there is a great deal of dispute as to whether this is real or a fake. What I gather from the information that I have been provided with to this point is that many experts seem to think that it is a fake.

I am waiting to hear more from another person that I would consider to be very knowledgeable about this knife. When I learn more I will pass it along.

By the way, the owner of the above knife is a very well known Bowie collector by the name of Levon Register. He was convinced enough of the authenticity of this knife to pay $20,000.00 for it.

*Edited to help something make more sense.
 
Just received an opinion from someone that I consider to be an expert on antique Bowie knives and he stated that this second knife that looks like Bowie no.1 is, in his opinion, not made by the same maker as the original. That pretty well seals the deal for me, and I now consider this to not be a James Black made knife.

I am not going to mention this persons name as it might cause some hard feelings.
 
Keith, thank you for the information that is "educating" us!

There is a good article on the Black knives in the October 2002 issue of Knife World.

Thanks again.:)
 
Keith, was you able to find your OCT. Knife World?
 
I don't have a subscription to Knife World. I will be getting one next month and will also be looking into getting back issues. Mark has been really helpful. He recommended that I join the Antique Bowie Knife Association. He figured that I could learn a whole lot from those folks. This organization was also recommended to me by Ron Newton and Jim Batson.
 
Here's the Walker Bowie #1 (pic from Darby).

picture.JPG


Cheers,

Roger
 
Thanks for posting the pictures of my Bowie No. 1, Roger. I have to give Ron Newton credit for taking the pictures. And I'm glad my friend, Darby, got the knife. :D
 
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