Seven Piece Frontier Style Display by John Cohea

HTMD

HTMD

Joined
Feb 15, 2002
Messages
1,705
This beautiful display was created by John Cohea and commissioned by collector Jon Klein. It's quite amazing in terms of scale and detail and making the photographs was a fun adventure. Each piece is shown independently, using a different image style. The entire display is also shown. Look carefully - there's lots of detail. John will write me off when he see's how I hung the ax sheath! The final image below shows the proper arrangement. I hope John and Jon will chime in and give us the esplains. I do know it's a very special project. :thumbup: In the meantime these pictures can do the talking better than me. ;)

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I've been hearing about this project for a little while now. John just keeps on moving with fresh new ideas for old looking stuff.

Cheers,

TV


Terry Vandeventer
ABS MS
 
I need to go look up a whole new set of superlatives - this is an absolutely spectacular set. Each piece is a worthy and enviable work unto itself, and together... wow!

Love the use of copper as a unifying element in all the blades. And that driftwood display stand is right off the hook.

Great job on the photos Buddy, and congrats to Jon and John.

Roger
 
Congrats John Jon and Buddy I never gat tired of seeing johns work the way this sets comes together is a true work of art. Buddy did a fine job of catching the life in this set.
 
This is the nicest set I've seen, it's seems to have been wonderfully thought out. It's composition, both in the making and the imaging, is magnificent - just great stuff all around.

Bob
 
Buddy thank you for the wonderful images and John thank you for exceeding all expectations. As is my way of placing a commission I always try to push a maker to exceed my expectations. I feel fortunate that they do just that, most of the time. However with this set I could not have envisioned the end result. I think John did just and outstanding job. No question he pushed his limits and the result is certainly worthwhile. I am seriously proud to own and display this great set.

John when you have a moment please tell the story about how that piece of driftwood ended up in your hands.

Again thank you very much John and Buddy keep on doing the same. I believe you push yourself in a similar fashion to a maker trying to step up their game. Your photo's speak for themselves and without question you are accomplishing the task at hand every time. I look forward to your work almost as much as I do the knives I send you.

Jon
 
Thanks Jon and everybody. BTW, the ivory on those handles is some of the most interesting and beautiful I've seen. Pointing this out makes me look bad though, because obviously I haven't come close to really capturing its beauty. Still, look at the spine view inset above and you can start to see more of the colors and layers oozing fabulously warm tones. My hat's off to JC and JK. :D
 
holy shit, is that ever cool!!!
 
The first things I look for when observing a primitive work is how successful the artist/craftsman has been in capturing a “true period presentation” from a technique, detail, material, artistic and color perspective and if the piece looks “authentically worn-in” or just artificially distressed. It’s extremely difficult and takes tremendous experience to make a period or frontier piece look as if it could be 100-150 years old as compared to it looking like someone attempted to make it look that way. John has really hit pay dirt here as the entire set and every piece of it is outstanding in my opinion.

With what seems to be just a few years under his belt, John has created a set which IMO puts him in the company of the few who are universally recognized as the pioneers and masters of creating period blade art.

Congratulations John on a success that must have taken you an enormous amount of time, effort and created some gray hair, to Jon for his patience and influencing an artist/craftsman do what he does best and to Buddy for expertly capturing it for many to experience.

The only negative I see here is that more will not be able to experience this outstanding work of art. Its substantial projects such as this that help custom knives make positive inroads into the mainstream art communities which benefit us all.

Not to get off track here however this project is somewhat similar to a huge endeavor the CKCA plans to undertake over the coming months. Our goal is to support/back select knifemakers in creating perhaps the most significant knife projects of their careers and then our exposing these monumental works outside our community thus increasing the broad collectible world’s familiarity with fine custom knives. More details will be coming so let’s not detract from John/Jon’s set. I only bring it up as seeing this set unfold sort of brings to mind the caliber of Knife Art and one of the styles of knives/displays we may be seeking.
 
Thnaks eveyone!I also want to thank Jon for the opportunity to create this set, and Buddy for the images that capture every minute detail!Buddy, again your sheath placement for the hawk cover is someting I never thought of, but is a damn fine idea!!
Needless to say, I feel that if I have ever created what I feel is my defining masterpiece, this is it!!Jon presented me with numerous challenges in the creation of this, and while it required a little thought and effort, I think I pulled it off rather well, even if I do say so myself!!
One of the first obstacles to overcome was how to display all six pieces on a display stand and not have it look cluttered.As Jon pointed out, there is a story behind the driftwood,which I did not have at the time this set was commisioned.
I had just gotten on the boat the trip before I was to come home and start this project.We were tied off on the Upper Mississippi River above St.Louis waiting on lock turn, heading south.I was in the engine room and happened to look out the door and saw this piece floating in the water, My first thought was"there's Jon's display stand!"
I look around for a way to snag it, but it was too late, it floated past:mad:.A few minutes later, it came floating by again:eek:, apparently caught by an eddy in the water, which is a swirling current.This time I grabbed the closest thing to me, which was an extention cord, threw a couple of loops around it and dragged it in:cool:!It spent the next 4 weeks drying out to become this piece of sculpture!
Next is the ivory.When Jon commisioned this set, he wanted dark brown ivory for the knives.No worries, I have some that will work.As I looked at it more I decided I did'nt think it was right for the project, and convinced Jon to go with weathed barn oak instead.Well, the more I looked, I decided I could make it work. I called Jon, told him my thoughts, and put the ivory back up as an option.After a fair adjustment in price, we went with the ivory, and I'm damn glad we did! When I started knocking some of the bark off with a fine grit belt, these spectacular colors of blue, green, brown and tan started coming out, not ot mention the textures and crackle:thumbup::thumbup:!!
Now for details.The bowie has a 11 1/2" blade forged from leaf spring steel, with an OAL of 16 1/2".The liners are copper, and the handle frame and guard are deep etched wrought iron.
The folder is about 6 1/2"OAL with a blade length of almost 3", and is made from 1095.Liners are steel, with mild steel backspacer and wrought iron bolsters.
The hawk head is also forged from leaf spring steel,and is 9"long.The haft is weathered barn oak, as is the base for the display stand.
The display stand also features 10 twisted wrought iron nail, circa 1872, in its construction.
All three blades feature forge texture and forged copper overlays. The sheaths all feature ivory details from the same ivory, and the back panel and belt loop inlay on the bowie sheath are textured copper foil, as is the band on the bowie and hawk.
Thanks agin Jon for allowing me to create my Mona Lisa:thumbup::thumbup:!
 
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Great display and story! John, this entire set is above and beyond! Each piece could stand alone and hold it's own as a true work of functional art, but together, it's nothing short of awe-inspiring...congratulations guys! I could see this being displayed in a museum and admired by thousands!
 
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