The pictures do a poor job of conveying the massive size of this nearly eighteen inch long Confederate
Bowie knife. Yet it is not built overly heavy.
The maker of this knife is unknown; however, his workmanship, and especially his design, show him
to be skilled in the art of knife making. The wooden grip found on his knife is superbly shaped to flare at
the pommel so that a blood slicked hand would not slip off (I know, it was probably never blood slicked,
but that is what it was designed for). This is especially important in a fighting knife, and the spear point
blade is strictly a fighting/military design; it is virtually useless as a carving or hunting knife. What is
most distinctive about this maker’s knife is the excessively broad blade, being two and half inches broad.
The blade is twelve and half inches and the knife is seventeen and three quarters overall. While very well
shaped by a skilled iron worker, it was never polished; it was finished with a file and ready to cut.
The elongated diamond shaped iron cross guard remains tight. The grip, though having a crack, is as
tight as the day it was made. The expertly formed wooden grip is seated in a brass ferule and capped by
an elongated brass octagonal washer.
The crack in the fruitwood grip shows its age and is not loose in anyway.