Last weekend after a morning of unsucessful turkey hunting I decided to stop by a local antique mall. It's a fairly large place with many booths. One can find just about anything in the place from old baseball bats to every type of glass wear known to man. You probably have one in your home town or nearby. I started my usual route around the place and came across a glass display with several traditional knives. One such knife was labeled "Partridge Knife" on the little white tag. I had seen this knife about a month ago at this place and just casually passed it by. I thought to myself probably just cheap junk of some unknown origin. For some reason though it started calling to me as walked by booth after booth of the usual stuff. You know rusty old pliers, mismatched lamps, musty smelling books, etc. So back to the display case with an employee I go to take a closer look. Outcomes what appears to be a much better made knife than I expected. Ebony wood with carbon steel blades. Now you have my attention. Who is the maker? One simple tang stamp on each blade reveils exactly what is stated on the tag. A partridge of some sort. Odd, I think to myself never seen that stamp before. The price is right though and I enjoy fixing up old rusty knives so I'll take it. If I can't locate a wild turkey to shoot at least I won't be coming home witout a bird of some sort. Below are photos of my endeavor after a intense but gentle cleaning and sharpening. My research is pointing towards an SFO involving Queen Cutlery and a Mr. Bob White. Any information regarding this knife would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...ne-ever-hear-of-Bob-White?highlight=Bob+White This might help. It could be a quail stamp, very nice find too. Vaguely, I seem to recall there was a poster called Bob White when I first showed up here about 8 years ago. I may have sent him a knife in a GAW but I don't know if there is any connexion. Thanks, Will
Thanks for the link Will. That's pretty much the only information I could find myself. I wonder how many of these might be out there? Thanks, Keith
That seems like a great find, Keith! :thumbup: I don't know a thing about that particular knife, but I'm kind of drawn to knives that have animals as shields or tang stamps. - GT
I agree GT, actually, it would be nice if somebody just started a Show Your Tangs thread as there are interesting symbols and stampings in general. Regards, Will
Bob was my grand uncle. He made custom knives as well as being an accomplished gunsmith. I can confirm that is his stamp. If you are ever interested in selling it let me know. It’s a great find.
I think you are correct, this is a Queen made knife. I believe I have seen a yellow handled stockman and maybe a yellow copperhead with the Bobwhite logo. There were also a couple of bone handled stockman knives made by Frank Buster Cutlery. They were stamped Bob White Cutlery. I think there was only 200 or so of them made. I don’t know how many of these were made by Queen, but you don’t see them often.
Very, very cool! For what it's worth, in the deep south, particularly in South Carolina, old timers often referred to bobwhite quail as "partridge".
