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Japanese or Chinese homemade WW2 or Korean bring back

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on September 24, 2014 at 14:51

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on September 24, 2014 at 15:23

Keith, okay-- You have officially got my attention ! LOL-- A couple of questions for now-- I may have more later~~What history do you have on the knife, and why do you think it is Japanese or Korean?? Secondly, when opened, does the knife have any type of locking mechanism or backspring ?? Does it lock with a snap when opened ??Reasons for asking-- The knife is more reminiscent of a Spanish/Italian/ French"Navaja" style knife-- Overall construction suggests 19th or even 18th century-Also intrigued by the 5 grooves on top of the handle-- In Jewish/Yiddish culture 3 or 4 grooves were used to distinguish a knife used to cut meat or dairy products as they were not to be consumed at the same time or intermixed traditionally-- 5 marks , some speculate, could have an entirely different purpose-- Designating number of kills, not limited to any country-- In your photos, it would appear the handle material is bone-- Is this correct??--- Fascinating knife, that I have not found a close example of-- If you can provide some further details, I will dig deeper and try to find more information for you.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on September 24, 2014 at 16:12

Well that is a lot of information already that I did not know!

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on October 1, 2014 at 16:40

Okay a little update- After looking at your additional photos you posted-http://www.iknifecollector.com/forum/topics/ok-more-photos-of-japan... - I will give you my best educated guess. After more research, I believe it is 18th century (1700's) and most likely Italian, or possibly French. It most closely resembles an Italian style of knife called a Punta Di Corno ( the tip of the horn) . They used the extreme part of the horn, the only part of the horn that is solid inside.This allowed the entire handle to be made from a single piece of horn. This required a skilled knife maker , given the complexities of working with solid horn.Further proof this was not amateur is the fact that it has a cutlers mark, which the maker had to pay a fee for to register it. The second pin near the pivot pin was what kept the blade from folding back on itself. The design carved into the rams horn was both decorative and designed to give the handle a better grip.Unfortunately, records on makers marks from that period are rare and incomplete--Hand forged and hand made to be sure, but not made by an amateur. Most of the uneveness of the handle can be attributed to the natural rough texture of rams horn and its natural shape-- Here is a later example of an Italian knife-

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on October 1, 2014 at 16:55

That is actually some smooth research right there!

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on October 1, 2014 at 17:15

Keith- one more thing you might consider - For a $25 fee Bernard Levine, will value your knife for you online - Might be well worth it-- Bernard Levine is THE authority on knife identification and values-- You can even send him photos before you pay him and he can tell you if it is worth having professionally appraised-- I believe it is--- I would just hate to see you sell it for a fraction of its worth, and I honestly can't give you an accurate fix on the value. Here is his website- http://knife-expert.com/appr-k.htm