Sioux Parfleche Beaded Sheath and Trade Knife

[cornstalk]

I have no idea when this was made but I was intrigued by the knife itself which is made from a file and is a lot thicker than contemporary knives made from files. It's a heavy knife.

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Nice!

 

[user 48679]

Interesting.......

I've made parfleche sheaths before, but beading is waaay beyond my skill set ( and patience ).

 

[Notchy Bob]

That's a really nice set you have there, @cornstalk

The sheath looks modern-made, to me, but by someone pretty well versed in the traditional style. It's a beautiful piece of work, regardless of its age. I'm not sure what to make of the knife, but it looks like it would be really good for skinning.

If you don't mind, may we see a photo of the other (reverse) side of the knife and sheath?

Thanks for showing this! Knife and sheath are beautiful.

Notchy Bob

 

[cornstalk]

@Notchy Bob The butt of the knife is peened over and then lead (pewter?) was poured into the handle. The hide lacing is impressive to me. My big fisted hands could never cut hide that thin, not even close.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Thank you!

I have a much better idea now of how the sheath was constructed. I would agree, the workmanship is excellent.

The knife, in many respects, is similar to several shown in the "Patch Knives" chapter of Minnis' book, American Primitive Knives. It is a very authentic style.

Much obliged,

Notchy Bob

 

[cornstalk]

The knife, in many respects, is similar to several shown in the "Patch Knives" chapter of Minnis' book, American Primitive Knives. It is a very authentic style.

Thanks for that info, sounds like an interesting book I need to check out.

 

[Notchy Bob]

@cornstalk ,

This is the book referenced in my earlier post:

American Primitive Knives 1770-1870, by Gordon B. Minnis, published in 1983 and currently (I believe) out of print. It only has 100 pages. The title is accurate... These are backwoods, frontier knives, not cutlery from the better known commercial cutlers of the period. It is well illustrated in black-and-white, and broken down into sections including belt knives, "utility knives," patch knives, daggers, and Bowies.

These two are listed under "Patch Knives," but there are some others in the book that are larger and made in pretty much the same way. Anyway, these are sort of what I was thinking of when I made my previous comments:

I'm sorry I was unable to get the captions completely within the snapshots. Minnis described both of these as "the simplest possible construction," by which I believe he meant a rat-tail tang in a section of antler. I think these two just have the handle driven onto the tang. One thing I have heard of but not tried is to soak the antler for a day in plain water to soften it up, then just drive it onto the tang and leave it until it dries. The antler evidently shrinks around the tang and forms a permanent bond. However, Minnis shows at least one larger knife that is made just like yours, with a full-length tang in a hollowed handle, with the space filled with lead (Plate 14 in the book).

I don't know if your knife is an antique or not, but even if we assume the knife you have there is of fairly recent construction, it is absolutely "correct." Minnis' book shows that there are examples of antique knives extant which were made in exactly the same way.

I admire finely made guns and knives as much as anybody, but plain, simple, and even crude backwoods pieces that got the job done have a special appeal. As for the decorated sheath, I would think of it as an expression of the regard its owner had for this sturdy, functional, and dependable knife.

Notchy Bob

 

[cornstalk]

@Notchy Bob thanks for all the extra information, especially your take on the knife. I do really like the heft of it, and I agree with you that as sweet as knives are made by very talented artisans, equally sweet are knives made strictly for their utility that succeed at what they were made for.

 

[tallpine]

Beautiful example of a blacksmith made fronter knife. Thanks for sharing