1830's FINE EXHIBITION IXL UNIQUE FOLDLING LOCKBACK DIRK SELF DEFENSE WEAPON

Description

1830's FINE EXHIBITION IXL UNIQUE FOLDLING LOCKBACK DIRK SELF DEFENSE WEAPON
1830's FINE EXHIBITION IXL UNIQUE FOLDLING LOCKBACK DIRK SELF DEFENSE WEAPON
UNIQUE ANTIQUE EXHIBITION IXL FOLDLING LOCKBACK DIRK
RARE AMERICAN FEDERAL EAGLE FEEDING EAGLE CHICKS POMMEL
PATTERN MADE FOR AN AMERICAN PATRIOT GENTLEMAN
CIRCA LATE 1830's EARLY 1840's WITH IMPORTANT PROVENANCE
ASK A MODERN KNIFE MAKER IF HE COULD HAND FORGE, HAND GRIND, HAND TEMPER, HAND FIT, HAND POLISH KNIFE BLADES & SPRING LIKE THIS, CREATE A METAL STAMPING DIE FOR THE SCALES, USING ONLY SIMPLE HAND TOOLS SUCH AS HAMMERS, FILES, GRINDSTONES AND DRILLS; AND HOW MUCH WOULD HE CHARGE?
This is an Antique Gentleman's Sheffield made IXL Lock Back Folding Dirk Self Defense Weapon by the renowned Sheffield Maker George Wostenholm, circa 1830's - 1840''s. This IXL pocketknife was made in Sheffield, the knife capitol of the world at the time, and for hundreds of years prior. George Wostenholm's IXL trademark was one of the premier Sheffield cutlers from the 18th through the 19th centuries; and unquestionably made some of the best cutlery ever produced on this planet. In the mid-1700’s, there was a cutler by the name of George Wolstenholme (b.1717) working in the village of Stannington, near Sheffield. The I*XL trademark had originally been registered in 1787 to a W. A. Smith. The mark books of The Company of Cutlers show I*XL being registered to Wostenholm in 1831. As early as the 1830's, the IXL trademark was associated with excellence, with the highest artisanship and most perfect workmanship. Wostenholm made its share of Exhibition pieces and won Gold Medals & acclaim at numerous International Exhibitions including The Great Exhibition in London 1851, Paris 1855, London 1862, Paris 1867, Philadelphia 1876, Sydney 1879, Melbourne 1880, and New Orleans 1884.
Wostenholm knives are considered much rarer than the more prolific maker Joseph Rodgers. Please refer to the article by the late, great Bill Williamson; "I*XL Means - I Excel", and the excellent article in the Sheffield Exhibition Knife Book on page 187 by the late, great Jim Taylor. Wostenholm was selling knives to America as early as 1830 through a partnership with Master Cutler William Stenton, father of Master Cutler R.S. Stenton. Wostenholm's sales trips to America began soon after, and subsequently he established offices from New York to San Francisco through which he could service growing demand for his superior materials and craftsmanship in his hand made I*XL knives. Wolstenholm personally made dozens of visits to America starting in the 1830's; at a time when trans-Atlantic passage on a slow wooden ship would have been arduous, to say the least. By 1860, Sheffield knifes had a monopoly on the American cutlery trade, with about 90% of the market share. By 1862, IXL was almost exclusively exporting to the American market.
Fancy Folding Lock Back Dirk knives were a fashionable accessory and necessary accouterment for any Gentleman of Means and could be carried in their pants or jacket pocket. Although fancy Folding Dirk knives could be used for general purpose, period Sheffield Folding Lockback Dirks were manufactured to be used primarily as a self-defense weapon. During the early 19th century there was little law and order, and it was "every man for himself". Men were constantly at risk of being waylaid by thugs, ner' do goods, thieves, robbers and bandits. Fancy Sheffield Dagger & Dirk knives were favored by affluent Gentlemen & Gamblers. Most men carried a single shot or brace (2) percussion pistols that were prone to misfiring. Both fixed blade daggers and folding dirks were carried as a primary or back up weapon for self-protection during the 19th Century and even beyond the turn of the 20th century, as carrying firearms were outlawed. Thus, Gentlemen would typically carry a fancy fixed blade dagger or dirk as a side knife on their belt that could perhaps avert a skirmish or confrontation just by being displayed; others carried a Folding Dirk that could be hidden for concealment in their vest or pants pocket and used as a weapon if needed.
These early folding dirk knives were completely hand forged, hand ground, hand fitted, hand polished; i.e., completely handmade, using only simple hand tools; and were created to be used only as a weapons. They fall into the early category of edged weapons made for personal self-defense purposes; and thus have the accompanying Mano-a-Mano romance and history associated with this early period of American history. They are the Gentleman's counterpart to the Bowie knife, but are many times rarer than their fixed blade counterparts that were manufactured and intended for use as a weapon for self-defense; thus, hold a special appeal for advanced knife collectors & history aficionados.
German silver mounts had only begun to be used on Sheffield knives beginning in the 1830's, which allowed new, fancy patterns and designs used to embellish Sheffield Bowies, Dirks, Daggers and Folders; some with American Patriotic motif began to appear in the 1830's in the form of hollow stamped lead filled knife handles, cross guards, pommels, blade stampings & etchings made expressly for the American market place. These Patriotic etchings and mounts continued leading up to the Civil War Period. All of the American motifs (Liberty & Union riband, Federal Eagle, Eagle feeding chicks, a field of stars, olive branches, a Liberty cap, Scales of Justice, et al) were intended to appeal an American Patriotic Gentleman of means. These knives were an expensive, newfangled, avant-garde accouterment at the time, that only a wealthy gentleman could afford. Note this piece has lead filled Patriotic handles, a very rare feature I have only seen in 2 other 1830's period Folding Dirks, 1 with the W crown R period ricasso (1830-37) that had lead filled handles. Later German hollow stamped scales and handles for cutlery style dirks, daggers and Bowies were filled with cutlery cement, a cheap, easy to apply, lightweight material that allowed the proliferation of inexpensive fancy mass produced Patriotic knives to the American market during the years leading up to the U.S. Civil War. This especially applies to IXL Cutlery, as Wostenholm's exports were almost exclusively to America from the 1830's to the U.S. Civil War. The start of Patriotic motifs fall in tandem with ricasso descriptive moniker hot stampings on Sheffield Cutlery such as Elegant, Celebrated, Superior, Splendid, et. al.; mostly from the 1830's.
This stunning and highly sought after Early Gentleman's Sheffield Folding Lockback Dirk Self Defense weapon with the desirable & rare Federal Eagle feeding Eagle chicks in the nest Pommel design is from the famous Colonel C.J. Hyde collection. Refer to the very interesting article "Here Comes Colonel Hyde", written by the late, great Bill Williamson in the American Blade magazine, July/August 1980, pages 30-33 & 72-74. This 8 page article has pictures of Col. Hyde, as well as some of the Sheffield Folding Dirks from his collection. Bill Williamson was an Icon in the Knife World and wrote many informative knife articles during his lifetime. Refer to the Butterfield & Butterfield "The William R. Williamson Bowie Knife Collection" auction catalog of his collection that sold on January 28,1997.
Col. Hyde favored Sheffield Folding Dirks, Folding Bowies, and the extra rare extended blade Folding Dirks from the 1830's to the Civil War period; and also did meticulous restoration to his knives. In restoring the blades, he used kerosene or coal oil and different grits of natural and artificial stones to restore the finish as close as possible to the original crocus of Iron polish that was the hallmarked of Sheffield makers. To Col. Hyde, it was a matter of preserving these fine knives for posterity. To quote Col. Hyde; "The reason I've restored, and polished old knives is that many are in a state of decay, needing attention because of use and abuse. Some fellow had a fine old knife which he left someplace, exposed to the extremes of heat and cold, or of wet and dry. Often rusting and pitting has set in. I like to put a knife back close to its original condition. Once in my collection, it will stay in good shape for years to come. It's a matter of preservation as I see it." To avoid removing the important blade markings, he would use up to 800 strokes with a fine 900 grit stone on the ricasso; and his painstaking restoration of just the knife blades would take up to 10-15 hours. In my opinion, this laborious hand polishing process is the best I have ever seen, and most knife experts wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this finish and orginal crocus of Iron polish on antique mint knives; save for the minuscule naturally occurring aging marks that can be seen with magnification.
This piece was completely handmade by IXL Master Sheffield Cutlers using only simple hand tools; i.e., hand forged & hand ground blades, hand tempered springs, hand fitted, et al. This Sheffield Folding Lockback Dirk is 9 1/4" long open, and 5 1/16" closed x 7/8" wide at the pommel. Overall, this lead filled Dirk Knife is heavy for its size, weighing 5.2 ounces or 148 grams. The liners are brass. These 3-dimensional German Silver scales are die stamped, filled with lead, and secured with 3 German silver pins at the pommel end, to secure the back spring and as a lever pin for the lock back mechanism. The scales swell from the ricasso to the pommel, with the ricasso end having a 3-D stylized shield, scroll and leaf pattern. This Exhibition piece has the very unusual mid bolster panel with large letters in a riband, "THE CELEBRATED IXL KNIFE". The scales have no discernible dings or dents, with remarkable fine hand line engraving detail visible in the scrolls at the pommel end and the base of the Federal Eagle pattern. Overall, in very fine condition with just light handling marks, very slight loss of detail such as on 1 raised Eagle chest and 1 Eagle head from light wear and restoration polishing. This is almost impossible to see with the naked eye but is visible when rotated in the light or with a magnifying glass.
Many of the Sheffield Folding Dirks had fancy cross guards that proved impracticable as they could easily catch on clothing when withdrawing this weapon for use. Some owners would purposefully cut the quillons off so that the knife remained more readily accessible, but without the cross guard. This pattern has no cross guard and is a small size yet would be a formidable self-defense weapon when drawn.
This knife was never taken apart and restored as is. The ricasso is hot stamped "GEORGE", "WOSTEHOLM", "CELEBRATED" in 3 lines, a marking that would only be found on an Exhibition knife in International Exposition, with I*XL signage, and the well-known "I*XL" trademark prominently displayed on both the blade flat and knife scales. Note this is a very rare and unusual marking and note the extremely rare absence of the word SHEFFIELD which is found on almost all Sheffield Cutlery. The exceptions to this rule were knives that were purposefully unmarked for export and intended to be cold stamped and/or etched by the American retailer, a few knives unmarked and sold at a discount domestically without the Makers name to compete with other Sheffield makers in lean years.
The single edged Lock Back Master Dirk blade is designed for stabbing & slashing as a self-defense weapon. The blade is about 4 1/4" long, with a 2 1/2" long swedge ground from both sides from the tip backward, which creates a false edge. This Master blade has no nicks when you run your finger along the edge and has a full tip. The Master blade shows only traces of light pit marks to the steel blade that had developed over the previous 100+ years, prior to being properly restored by Col. Hyde. These tiny areas of original, naturally occurring pitting were lightly and professionally removed in restoration and shows remnants of tiny pit marks to the steel blade. I can see only one tiny spot that is visible to the naked eye; yet this Master blade retains its original shape with full tip, and a luster / final polish as close to the original crocus of Iron polish as could be achieved. It is nearly impossible to discern this blade restoration from original crocus of Iron polish, save for the underlying minuscule pits.
Sheffield Folding Dirks and Bowies with lock back mechanisms have a delicate two-piece, two thirds length back spring that is much weaker than a conventional full length back spring, and could easily be "sprung"; thus, rendered it damaged and sometimes unusable. This Master blade has a strong, two pieces back spring. The Master dirk blade stays tight with no forward or backward movement in the open position with just a tiny bit of expected of movement side to side. The Master Blade snaps closed properly, with a strong snap, as new.
This Exhibition IXL Sheffield Folding Lockback Dirk is for the discerning collector who wants a rare, fancy, early 19th Century Sheffield Folding Dirk self-defense weapon that has lots of eye appeal and will only increase in value. I have never seen this pattern before. Also, Dave Petty, London Iconic Arms, Bowie, Dealer, Collector & Authority extraordinaire told me he had never seen another example of this IXL Exhibition pattern Sheffield Folding Lockback Dirk. 90% of all 19th Century Sheffield knives were imported into the burgeoning American market, which is especially true of Wostenholm, who by 1860, exported to American almost exclusively. Given this American heritage and pre-Civil War growing Patriotic legacy, these self-defense weapons are perhaps 50 to 100 times rarer than their fixed blade counterparts; but not 50-100 times the price. Most collectors have never seen, much less had an opportunity to own a handsome, eye appealing, Exhibition IXL self-defense weapon such as this without traveling to an auction house, and bidding until you are the last man standing, to end up owning the piece (plus buyer's premium, + taxes, + expenses).
Some of Colonel C. J. Hyde's Folding Dirks were purchased by Joseph Shields and were included in his Sheffield Folding Dirk Knife collection that was sold at auction by Butterfield & Butterfield, San Francisco, on May 30th, 1994. This was the first and only time I am aware of a knife collection consisting primarily of Rare Sheffield Folding Dirks have been sold at auction. This exact knife is pictured as lot # 1271, page 5; and add buyer's premium, sales tax and travel expenses. This Fine, Unique Sheffield Folding Dirk knife would make a handsome display piece in any knife, dirk, Bowie, edged weapon, Mexican American War, Civil War, gambling, Old West, Western Americana or Military Officer's accouterments collection, as well as an excellent Investment. NOTE: it is extremely difficult to photograph a shiny curved object, and I took dozens of images to portray the detail given that eBay only allows 12 images.
PROVENANCE:
The famous Colonel Hyde Collection 1970's - 1980's
The Important Joseph Shields Sheffield Folding Dirk collection 1980's - 1994
The California Collection of Mike Del Costello 1994
The Iconic California Collector / Dealer Late Great George Taylor Collection 1998
A private California Collection 1999 - present
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