June 9-10, 2017 Premier Firearms
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/10/2017
Circa 1830s-1840s. 17-3/4” overall. Heavy 12-1/8” clip point blade approximately 3/8” thick at ricasso, marked ALFRED HUNTER. One piece carved ivory handle with nickel silver ball-end guard, ferrule, and escutcheon. Original leather sheath with nickel silver tip and throat. Blade with scattered spotting but not significantly pitted, a few shallow nicks in edge. Handle with scattered age cracks, two larger cracks on top and bottom of handle. (Virtually all ivory handled Hunters exhibit significant cracking, this is one of the best appearing examples.) Leather sheath in excellent condition minus stitching, the mounts loose, top portion of throat absent. Ex. Logan Sewell, Mike Worley collections.
Publications:
(forthcoming) “A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America” by William B. Worthen and Mark D. Zalesky (2017), pp. 146-147
Public Exhibits:
Exhibited at Historic Arkansas Museum’s “A Sure Defense: The Bowie Knife in America” exhibit, Dec 2013 - June 2014.
Based in Newark, NJ, Alfred Hunter was a British table knife cutler who came to America in 1830 and settled in Newark by 1835, he never advertised bowie knives but a report on manufactures in Newark shows that he was making them in 1836. Note that the escutcheon is placed on what is commonly considered the knife’s reverse side (as is the case with most other Hunters.)