What kind of knife is this?

[conanh]

Hi all!

A few years back I picked up a couple of my favorite books from when I was a kid. The cover of the second one, Home by Betsy Gould Hearne, shows the main character with an unusual knife--at least to me--hanging from her belt.

Now that I've started to dabble in knife-making, I've gotten even more curious about what type of knife it is. Appears to be a variant of a peasant or penny knife, but the handle is unusually long. Also, it doesn't seem to be closed all of the way, possibly because of how it's being hung from the belt.

I know it's very possibly just the artist's (Trina Schart Hyman) invention, but I would like to know if this type of knife every existed and why it looks the way it does.

Thanks!

Conan.

 

[Hickory n steel]

Looks more like a stylized drawing of some kind of axe or hatchet type tool, doesn't look like any kind of knife to me.

 

[Jody744]

Yep, axe or hatchet

 

[Night Rider]

Looks like an artist's rendition of a peasant friction folder to me minus the long tang

 

[PaulS.]

I agree with the axe or hatchet. it even has a lighter color at the top like an axe head attached to a shaft.

Edit: handle instead of shaft.

 

[Night Rider]

I agree with the axe or hatchet. it even has a lighter color at the top like an axe head attached to a shaft.

I do see an axe now very clearly with the cutting head facing away.

 

[conanh]

Thanks for the replies. The comments about the axe/hatched sparked something in my head so I went back and read the first several chapters again. Sure enough, it talks about her finding an axe with a carved "C" on it that she hangs from her belt. Now, as I re-look at the picture, it does look like a hatchet pointed mostly away from us.

Oh, well.

At least I learned a lot about old folding knives in the process and will very likely make a peasant knife or five now.

 

[PaulS.]

Thanks for the replies. The comments about the axe/hatched sparked something in my head so I went back and read the first several chapters again. Sure enough, it talks about her finding an axe with a carved "C" on it that she hangs from her belt. Now, as I re-look at the picture, it does look like a hatchet pointed mostly away from us.

Oh, well.

At least I learned a lot about old folding knives in the process and will very likely make a peasant knife or five now.

No worries. it's nice to have something different like a mystery hunt in the porch instead of the latest GEC news/photo .

 

[Misplaced Hillbilly]

Not being familiar with the book, is the character described with a knife hanging from her belt?

 

[meako]

Unless its a very small knife tucked away round the back...all I see is a bearded axe. I think thats what they call that shaped axe.

 

[Camillus]

The axe part seems right. The artist’s lack of concern for her femoral arteries is the bit that has got me puzzled.