Virgil England - Fantasy Knives

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UnknownVT

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Feb 15, 2003
Messages
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Virgil England the pre-eminent fantasy knifemaker
(I think he won just about every Blade Show award for Fantasy Knife when he was there)
has a website:

http://www.virgilengland.com/

dag5.jpg


From talking to Virgil - he's having quite a number of designs manufactured, soon to be sold as production knives - this is great news for those mortals among us.

In the meantime - he had a few pieces manufactured by Paul Chen in a CAS Iberia collaboration - I understand AG Russell may be carrying these -

http://casiberia.com/cas_website/product_details.asp?id=KH1225
http://casiberia.com/cas_website/product_details.asp?id=KH1224
http://casiberia.com/cas_website/product_details.asp?id=KH1226
 
I've handles 2 of the CAS Iberia version, and they do not do justice to what Vigil usually makes.
 
Originally posted by beluga
I've handles 2 of the CAS Iberia version, and they do not do justice to what Vigil usually makes.
Click to expand...

Can't disagree with you on that - there is something kinda "mystical" about Virgil England's work - they are literally fantastic (so are the prices) - even just looking at the photo of the piece above - the Panghkor Punch - "Punch Dagger" for the arena - makes me want to drool.

For the price those CAS Iberia pieces are nice, and Virgil did approve them before they went into production.

I know they are called fantasy pieces - but Virgil does design and make them to be actually practically usable.

dag02.jpg
 
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I don't have any interets in art knives.
 
I got these comments about this thread in an e-mail from Virgil England - and I got his permission to post it -

QUOTE:
From: virgil england
To: vincent
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2003 5:25 PM
Subject: thankyou


Vincent,
Thanks for the verbage! You need to tell the bank what a fine person I am!
I read some of the comments on the site.
1. If you want to build a Ferrari you have to do it like Ferrari does. Same materials, techniques etc.. If you are true to the original you will have to also charge accordingly. It isn't possible to manufacture to my standards and build a $100 retail item that is equal in material, fit or finish to anything I have ever made. In the case of the CAS pieces manf. by P. Chen the main difficulty lies in the three dimensional qualities of the knives. They are not ground from bar stock with slab handles screwed on. This makes for difficulty in both finish and fit as there are no straight lines or degreed corners for machines to create. They are not always successful in their efforts to make them right. The ones A.G. Russel is selling are the pick of the crop and so far there have been no plans made for a second run.

2. Everyone's take on what an "art knife" is differs. I kinda imagine someone who isn't turned on by them as being more interested in box knives than a Loveless. I consider Bob to be responsible for bringing the "art" to the contemporary knife while retaining the functionality that needs to be at the heart of each blade. (Maybe they collect screwdrivers or crescent wrenches or maybe toilet plungers. Nothing but pure function. Must be a pretty damn boring existence.)
(Just in case some folks don't realize it I did make a lot of field knives throughout the 70s and presently my first mass produced ones are being manufactured in Taiwan, due on the market in the next few months. They don't look to "artsy", just functional. Its' a caper and skinner sheathed together I first made for guides here in Alaska in 1970 and ended up selling worldwide by the time I made the last pairs at $500 each in 1986. These don't present the manufacturing difficulties associated with the Fantasy pieces so I expect them to be nicely done and at a price regular people can afford.)


3. For those who think my stuff is cool..............I thank them...........I'll be in Milano Nov. 28 and 29 so anyone in the neighborhood stop in an see me.---------- V.
UNQUOTE
 
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