Thoughts on this D Guard

[Jimfox85]

Hello All,
I acquired this D Guard around a year or so ago from an auction house, and I wanted to share it with experts who can give me their honest thoughts on it. It was supposedly found in a barn in North Carolina. There are no markings that I can see. I'm really interested in knowing if it appears to be authentic. Any and all feedback is much appreciated.
Jim

 

[JackADriscoll]

It's a sweet looking knife. I'm suspicious of any d guard without provenance

 

[Jimfox85]

It's a sweet looking knife. I'm suspicious of any d guard without provenance

Thank you for the feedback, I really appreciate it. Couldn't agree more. I definitely took a chance on it because of its looks. For what I gave for it, I didn't believe I would hurt myself.

 

[Conquerordie]

What stands out to me is how the tang is peened opened over at the end. The process itself is historically correct, but the size seems ridiculous. Look at originals, even swords didnt usually have a peen that big.

 

[7thWisconsin]

I´m not a knife expert, but overall, it looks like the construction is consistent with the mid-19th century. It does have a total lack of markings like ¨CS¨ or ¨CSA¨ which tend to tip you off to a forgery. It has no provenance, though, so you might have a mid-19th century D-guard knife, without any clue whether it is a Confederate D-guard knife.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Without holding the knife in my hands, I can only comment on what is in the photos.

The akward proportions & poor quality of the fit between the guard & other parts lead to a single conclusion. This is an example of an inexperienced blacksmith's knife.

Burying objects to create a false surface is a trick with a long pedigree. Nothing surprising there.

 

[JackADriscoll]

Without holding the knife n my hands, I can only comment on what is in the photos.

The akward proportions & poor quality of the fit between the guard & other parts lead to a single conclusion. This is an example of an inexperienced blacksmith's knife.

Burying objects to create a false surface is a trick with a long pedigree. Nothing surprising there.

It looks like a uniform rust pattern from the photos to me. Is that consistent with that process?

 

[Conquerordie]

You bury an object, and the whole thing patinas at the same rate, so in theory it can and has been done.

 

[Gandycreek]

Barns must be loaded with these knives ! Seems like all of them are found in barns. (Thinking where the nearest barn is)!

 

[Rhea Cole]

This link from Blade Smith Forum will go a long way toward answering everyone's antique finishing questions.

Link:

Capturing the Character of Old Knives

One of my favorite type of projects recently has been pieces inspired by specific old knives. I've gotten better at matching the dimensions, materials, and general construction, however I don't think I'm quite there as far as really doing justice to the character of some of the old knives I've lo...

www.bladesmithsforum.com

 

[Trooper "D"]

Hello All,
I acquired this D Guard around a year or so ago from an auction house, and I wanted to share it with experts who can give me their honest thoughts on it. It was supposedly found in a barn in North Carolina. There are no markings that I can see. I'm really interested in knowing if it appears to be authentic. Any and all feedback is much appreciated.
Jim

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It looks "antiquey" enough but it could have been made in the 1930s, 1960s, Yesterday? Looks good for a collection a long as you don't call it anything but a "Barn Knife". Maybe it sheared sheep? Who knows? Still looks cool.
Cheers!

 

[Conquerordie]

I used to stock 18th century firearms as a hobby. Sold to reenactors or hunters. It's a popular thing to make the gun look 250 years old. I had a bunch of ways to deliberately age the gun, metal and wood. Never did a knife, but I could probably come close to what we see on the OPs knife. It's a tricky subject. The customer wanted that feel and look, the warmth of an original gun, but one they could shoot. Nobody was trying to pass them off as originals. I seem to see the negative side of the practice with Civil War items.

 

[Trooper "D"]

I used to stock 18th century firearms as a hobby. Sold to reenactors or hunters. It's a popular thing to make the gun look 250 years old. I had a bunch of ways to deliberately age the gun, metal and wood. Never did a knife, but I could probably come close to what we see on the OPs knife. It's a tricky subject. The customer wanted that feel and look, the warmth of an original gun, but one they could shoot. Nobody was trying to pass them off as originals. I seem to see the negative side of the practice with Civil War items.

That is funny since those old weapons were new at the time. It reminds me of the "serious" reenactors who soaked their brass buttons in urine to get that old time look in new buttons. If you button and unbutton your uniform every day those buttons will be bright. They were new back then but even tarnished buttons will become bright with use. Silly thing to want to age things too a period when back then the items were new.
Cheers!

 

[7thWisconsin]

It looks "antiquey" enough but it could have been made in the 1930s, 1960s, Yesterday? Looks good for a collection a long as you don't call it anything but a "Barn Knife". Maybe it sheared sheep? Who knows? Still looks cool.
Cheers!

This is a very good point - some reenacting gear and equipment has been around for over 60 years now. It´s dull, banged up and in some cases separated from original owners. That could be a knife made in the pattern of an antique... which is now itself and antique of a different kind.

 

[Rhea Cole]

It looks like a uniform rust pattern from the photos to me. Is that consistent with that process?

I refer you to the Bladesmith Forum link I posted up stream for a technical discussion on antiquing a knife blade. In this case, who knows what was done to it… the smithing is so crude that it would be logical to conclude that the rust pits were accomplished via a similarly rough process.