Bowie antique

[Dieguito 2]

Hi there 
I would like to have news about these two bowies, which I got hold of. They have two marks on the blade. thank you very much

[Geoff Keyes 672]

Interesting pieces.  The photos are hard to see details in.  Do you have better pics?  I would have these checked out by a professional.

 

Geoff

[Dieguito 2]

[Dieguito 2]

[Alan Longmire 3,767]

Hmmm...

 

This is just my opinion, and I am not an expert on these, nor have I tried to look them up yet, but: these have been "fixed up,"  and not necessarily in a good way. 

 

The Alexander is the least troubling to me, but you rarely if ever see one horn scale and one stag scale on the same blade, nor do you often see the same stamps on both sides of the blade.  The belt hook is not a common thing, nor is the U.S. army button. The button is United States Army general service, used from ca. 1854-1875, which fits stylistically with the Bowie, which looks like a late period full tang, ca. 1860-1880. On top of that, the scabbard appears to be heavy leather sewn up the back?  It should be cardboard or papier-mache with a cover of thin bookbinder's leather.  Not that someone may not have had a better scabbard made for it, of course.  Finally, the patina on the blade is suspiciously uniform.  Best case scenario is it was purchased for use in the American Civil War and the owner had a scabbard made for it that reflected a pseudo-military aspect, and at some point many years later one of the stag scales fell off and was replaced with horn.  Worst case, none of the above.

 

The Wostenholme looks to be an outright fake from here.  The mark is not right, the blade shape is not right, the cast nickel-silver frame handle is not right, and the horn on both of them looks like water buffalo rather than the cow it should be.  Oddly enough, the purple scabbard is plausible. 

 

I'll do a little research as I have the time, and I would be delighted to be wrong about them.  How did you come to have them?  

[Dieguito 2]

thank you, I collect fixed Italian knives from 1700 and 1800 these were in a lot at an auction that I won, I was wrong to put a photo, the one with the deer horn was in another lot, the ones purchased by me have the cow horn handle, and have the original sheaths, the shapes I found and the brands, given the longevity of the manufacturers it could be consistent ..