Posted 8 years ago
jstaylorga
(1 item)
This knife belonged to my late father-in-law. I have no idea how old it is and anything else. I was hoping someone would be able to tell me something about it such as it's age and who made it. The knife shows a man wearing a hat and his hunting dog. I think the hunting dog is a holding a bird in his mouth but I'm not sure. I cannot find any identifying marks that could help me track down the origin. It may be made of brass but I don't want to clean it. The knife has a beautiful patina to it that the pictures just don't capture. The man on the knife reminds me of Teddy Roosevelt but I doubt that this is correct. I was very fond of my wife's father and therefore the knife has a lot of sentimental value so I really don't care what it's worth. I don't know anything about knives and was hoping someone could give me advice on how you even begin to research something like this.
Thanks in advance for your help!
John
Your knife is classed as a "pen knife" because it has a blade at each end. It is part of a group commonly called "gentleman's" knives which were made to be carried on a watch chain, or in a pocket to be used for very light work: opening an envelope or trimming a cuticle. They often have fancy patterns or scenes on them because they are more jewelry than knife; hunt scenes have always been popular on these knives. Your handles appear to be "coined" metal; i.e. embossed by a die as coins are made. If there is no name or other marks at the base of any blade - where is folds - it is probably made in the U.S. but before 1964. After 1890 all goods imported INTO the US were required to be marked with the country of origin and I doubt it is older than that. After 1964 all knives SOLD in the US must have the country of origin "permanently" marked on them so it's older than that. Most US manufacturers marked their knives but not all. Unless it can be identified in a jeweler's catalogue you'll probably never know where it came from or its age. Do not scrub or polish it but some wax and a cotton ball will remove any dirt. If you carry it to use keep the joints lightly oiled.
UncleRon,
Thank you very much for all the information that you provided. As I stated in my post I don't know anything about knives so the background information you gave me is a big help. I think I'll find a magnifying glass and take another look. One last question...What type of wax should I use?
UncleRon,
Thanks to you I found some info at the base of the blade just like you said. It says:
Stainless
Solingen
Germany
This gives me something to search on and I really appreciate it! If you have any comments based on the info above, I'd love to hear them. Thanks again.
One last thing. Using a magnifying glass I found what I think is the manufacturer. It is Colibri.
Good work! First, stainless steel was first used for knife blades ca. 1920 so we have what is called a "terminus post quem", i.e. it can't be older than that. (The opposite is "terminus ante quem", essentially "it must be older than this.") Colibri is a brand of stylish accessories such as cigarette lighters, watches, pens, etc. They probably had the knife made for them. Solingen is a city/region in Germany famous for generations as a cutlery center. I would guess your knife was made ca. 1970 but that's just a guess. As for wax, any paste wax will do, such as Johnsons - even car wax, as long as it doesn't contain any abrasives. Purists use Renaissance (non-acid) Wax Polish but that's expensive and is ideal for conservators but unnecessary for your purposes.
@jstaylorga..... I have that exact knife I bought new in a jewelry store back around 1968 and it still on the gold chain that it came with that you wear with a suit vest etc., it has a bar at opposite end of the chain that would slip through a button hole, the chain would dangle with the knife in the vest pocket. Mine has been in a jewelry box for close to 48 years and probably only worn a couple of times just after being bought. It still looks brand new with out any type of wear marks. The maker markings on the the main blade at the folding part read as follows, Armex STAINLESS on one side and SOLINGEN GERMANY on the other side just as I typed, only the "Armex" word is in cursive writing with a capitol "A" followed by (rmex) in lower case. All other words are in capitol print font. Hope this helps you out some.
I have one. E. Bonsmann, Solingen>
http://postimg.org/image/eg1pg3myp/
http://postimg.org/image/6lkr35xuv/