HUGE 21 " C. 1776 Revolutionary War Era Spanish NAVAJA Pocketknife
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:49854117 | Original/Reproduction: Original |
| Conflict: Revolutionary War (1775-83) |
Being a collector of pocket knives from the 1600's-1700's this last 30 years, I have to say this is one of the most impressive knives I've ever owned ! I have sold hundreds of Revolutionary War pocketknives on eBay since they started and this one is my ALL-TIME FAVORITE !!! Having a 10 1/2" blade with a 11" handle (overall 21 1/2" long), this style Spanish pocket knife came into existance during the edict of May 29, 1750 in Spain which tried to prevent the citizens f...rom having swords, so they started to make these HUGE fighting pocket knives to bypass the law. This example is typical of the c.1770-1825 era and has a dark horn handle with twisted brass wire inlay and the finials are also of brass with hand engraved cross-hatch pattern and the central brass band has hand engraved "wrigglework" decoration which was a popular motif used by silversmiths during the 18th century. Also of interest is that the crude forged steel blade was hand engraved on one side with 3 lines of inscription, though the blade is very worn and shows pitting so the inscription is not discernable (see close-up photos). There is some beetle damage on horn handle and some blood pitting on blade, but the blade locking mechanism still works fine and overall its in pretty decent shape considering its over two centuries in age. These are extremely scarce and I found this example in New Mexico last year where the Spaniards had a hold until about the 1840's when Texas decided otherwise (Coronado explored New Mexico in 1540). A centerpiece for any pocket knife collection and you probably won't even see another example in any of the Southwest museums !
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