Please Help Me Identify My Knife

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pastorjblunt

Joined
Feb 14, 2005
Messages
9
I am trying to identify a custom kinfe, and I thought someone here might be able to recognize the maker's mark. :confused: The knife is a very fine bird and trout style fixed blade, with ivory handles that feature a full-color scrimshaw of a trout fly. The steel is chromed, and the maker's mark is embossed near the proximal end. The mark looks like a cattle-brand, and I think the letters are "GW." The "G" is composed of a curly cue inside of a larger circle, and the top of the circle links into the top of the "W," just like a cattle brand would. If you have any ideas, please email me, and I can show you a drawing of the mark to clarify. Thanks for taking time to help! :p
 
How would I do that? This format only lets me link to web content, and I don't have my own page. Is there somewhere here I can upload JPEG content?
 
We've looked I guess but I at least don't recognize the mark. Did you try Bernard Levine's forum?
 
I think it's,
George W. Werth
5223 Woodstock Rd.
Poplar Grove, Il 61065
815/544-4408

And, I could be wrong on that.

This is the very reason I tell new makers not to use intitials, but their First initials, last name, city, and state.
I don't know how many of this type of query I've seen where the maker is never identified.
BTW, the blade isn't chrome plated, but highly polished. What is called a mirror polish.:eek: ;)
 
Mike you're right of course, and etching makes that a snap.

But there's the old argument that in the aftermarket, unless you're dealing with a household name maker it's mostly the quality of the work that determines a knife's value. That's not to say that knowing who made the knife is of no interest! Only that price usually is not determined so much by the maker's name as by his (her) workmanship.

At least, that's the rationalization I apply for using my own mark. ;) :D

It's a sad commentary but I've seen knives by makers I idolized in the 70s sell for peanuts - simply because the craftsmanship wasn't equal to what's being done today. And because the market's memory is short too, I guess. :(

Anyway, this issue is why I wish so much that there was a good, complete collection of maker's marks like we have for manufacturer's marks. But such efforts never seem to get off the ground. Someday, someone is going to do the work and we'll all benefit by it.
 
ddavelarsen said:
But there's the old argument that in the aftermarket, unless you're dealing with a household name maker it's mostly the quality of the work that determines a knife's value. That's not to say that knowing who made the knife is of no interest! Only that price usually is not determined so much by the maker's name as by his (her) workmanship.

..........

Anyway, this issue is why I wish so much that there was a good, complete collection of maker's marks like we have for manufacturer's marks. But such efforts never seem to get off the ground. Someday, someone is going to do the work and we'll all benefit by it.
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The way I look at it, if you're proud of your work, and want people in the future to know who made it, then mark it plainly, with a location too.
Frankly I couldn't care less about the vagaries of the market, and dealers acting like a bunch of armenian rug peddlers at the bazaar, fixing secondary market prices on older knives. That's their concern.

As far as a makers mark "guild" (as that's what it would turn into), I have very strong thoughts on this, all negative!!! It would be just another place for wannabe's to empire build, and control people for their own benefit, and enrichment.
Nobody tells me what name I have to use on my knives. I use my name, and I won't have anyone telling me I have to register it with some bunch of pogues who can't even make knives.
This is an answer to a problem that doesn't really exist.
If people don't care if their names are lost to history, and people can't figure out who made their initialed knife, that's their business. Some people actually enjoy a mystery!

I've seen the initials on that knife in this this thread in the past, so it gave me a clue. But anyone could have found it by simply looking in the back of a "Knives" annual, in the knifemaker listings. But what am I saying, that would require actually picking up a book, and reading it! OMG!!!:eek: :rolleyes: ;)
 
Mike:
I appreciate your help on this one, but I must admit I resent the implication that I didn't check "Knives" annual first. I did, and while the George W. Werth listing in the back did describe the mark as simply "initials," the lack of a visual representation of the mark or reference to the loopy, cattle-brand style made me hesitant to confirm it as his. Also, he is out of Illinois, and the person who gave me the knife remembered it as having been made in Wyoming or some other mountain state. She had been fed some goofy anecdote by the dealer about the maker having lost use of his hammer-swinging arm shortly after forging this knife in a tragic archery accident or something.
Also, FYI, I did try a posting in Bernard Levine's thread, and all I got was a condescending lecture on DPI resolution and proper formatting of my JPEG's on the web. I guess I will go back to the contact information in "Knives" for George W. Werth and see if I can get his confirmation on the blade. I am still hoping to clear some of this up and discern the real mystery behind the knife's origin, and after trying every knife forum and makers' guild on the web with no reply, I thought I'd try here. I did not feel I was misusing the makers' forum, but it appears that has been the perception for some of you. I apprecaite the help and apologize if the request was an intrusion on your thread. I will not post again.
 
If it is indeed a George Werth knife, I believe it's gotta be an old one. I don't recall George making anything except billets of damascus for quite some time. In fact, I don't recall ever seeing a knife actually made by George, and I have been seeing him at shows for many years.
 
pastorjblunt said:
Mike:
I appreciate your help on this one, but I must admit I resent the implication that I didn't check "Knives" annual first. I did, and while the George W. Werth listing in the back did describe the mark as simply "initials," ...
Click to expand...
I was referring to the other makers here(and it was in jest), not you. I didn't even know if you had a copy of the knives annuals.
My Knives 98 says initials connected!!

Edited to add; Where do you get the idea we think you misused this forum?
I didn't see anything like that(nor do I think that), and the referral to levine is standard practice in identification of knives. Settle down a bit, and enjoy!;) :D
 
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