What kind of knife do I have?

B

Bob Feller

Joined
Apr 27, 2020
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5
I was given this knife by my great-grandfather and can't find one anywhere that looks like it. It is a "Cervantes ~ Oaxaca" it says it is made in Mexico. Every knife that I have seen that is made by this company is a collectors Bowie knife, but the one I have is a dagger of some sort. The blade is about 8" and sharpened on both sides coming to a point. I'm very curious as to what I have and any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
As a registered user, you can post pictures using a picture hosting site. I use Imgur, but there are others. Once you have uploaded a picture, copy the web address. Then go to your post and click the image tool on the toolbar next to the smiley tool. Paste the picture address into the resulting popup. Then click the INSERT button. Note: picture web addresses must end in .jpg or .gif

A comprehensive guide to using Imgur can be found in this thread:
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/how-to-post-pictures-using-imgur-comprehensive.1504241/
 
MHsQ5l6.jpg


Here's the pic. Thanks guys for the help
 
I've never seen a reference guide to Mexican makers, the ones that are known are mostly ex-pat craftsmen or makers that were lucky enough for their brands to survive into the 70's or so when people started to really take knives seriously as standalone collectibles. Stylewise it's an older knife in a style that was popular from the very late 1800's - early 50's. By the mid 50's, that style was mostly supplanted by the cast aluminum styles. I'd put yours maybe 1930's - early 50's.

The "Made in Mexico" probably moves it into that range, as the older ones were usually made for local use and only marked with a name, and maybe a town name. As Mexico became more of a tourist destination the "made in" stamps become more common.
 
Oaxaca is / was a knife making center in southern Mexico. There are still some old names there, some have been making knives for generations. You might want to contact somebody in the Oaxaca knife making community for information. Casa Aragon has a FB page, that might be a place to start. Guillermo Aragón Guzmán is 6th generation and has been making knives there for more than 50 years.
 
I believe that the handle may have been remade at some point as well. You can see that it is two separate pieces of wood and they have nails holding them in place that were trimmed off. Still very interesting and intriguing though, because of this knifes history in my family and the fact that it was given to me by my great-grandfather.
 
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