Trade Knives Maybe???

[galloway3m7x]

I look for old butcher/hunting knives a lot where they are cheap and easy to get, farm auctions,garage sale,thrift stores,etc. Every once in a while I find something very old that can possibly be one or be mistaken as a Trade knife. I prefer to use the term Trade Era knife ,since more than likely most have not been part of the fur trade process. Ebay has dozens of knives listed as trade knives ,a lot look to be from that period ,but does not actually fit the examples I have researched ,although have read that there are very many examples . I myself had listed some of these ,but had to add things like "not sure,see pics and judge for yourself" or "Has SOME of the characteristics as a trade knife". But really,Can anyone be sure? and is a better approach ,since semi-knowledgeable non-expert collectors that look for these all seem to have minor varying opinions of what might make them TRADE KNIVES?

 

[SilverFoxKnows]

When I, fairly recently, started to take an interest in pirate faires & buccaneer days at the ren faire I started looking for period correct knives. I had a better link that showed surviving examples of trade era knives but the page is no longer available. The following link I got from The Pirate Brethren pages. I don't have any connection to ODF other than drooling over their work. But their work is all based off surviving pieces.

http://www.olddominionforge.com/knives.html

Frank

P.S.- I would be surprised if more than a few of the "trade knives" around are actually 200-300 years old. If they are they're likely to be in rough shape. They weren't like swords, they were fairly cheap tools meant to be used. I see plenty of repros, some of them quite decent in form but not many artifacts outside of museums or private collections.

 

[beau5278]

From a collectors standpoint,unless a knife has some kind of provenance that is proof without a doubt or is marked or has something in the construction to identify a maker or time period,it's just a knife.In my estimation about 80 or 90% of the knives sold as trade knives on ebay are just wishful thinking or fake but it seems like there are quite a few buyers who don't really care,they'll buy a good story.If your concerned that the knives that your selling are actually trade knives or not,the only way is to study known examples and learn from them.Bernard Levines forum right here on BF has a wealth of information as do his books.

 

[galloway3m7x]

Maybe most do not care,even after stating in my auctions that I not sure if they are actually trade or not , all buyers have been happy.
Once I bought a box at an auction for a couple a dollars with kitchen knives and utensils that had six of these Trade appearance knives. I thought none to special. I actually sold them on ebay ,seperately, and none brought over $16.00 each ,but 2 of them with no markings sold to the same guy,who paid extra for insurance and immediate shipping, had me ship them to a museum . Still I wonder to this day ,because they looked most like regular old wood handled knives.