During the California Gold Rush of the 1850s, every gold miner felt the need to carry a knife, usually a high quality dirk or bowie ordered from Sheffield, England or back East (New York). Almost overnight, San Francisco transformed from a rough frontier town into a wealthy, bustling seaport, and the prosperous gentlemen of "The City" only considered themselves properly dressed for dinner if they had a beautifully made knife with their attire. The classic bowie continued to be carried by those "49ers", outlaws and lawmen alike in the Old West, and even by soldiers of blue and gray in the Civil War. This Antique US Civil War Era Alexander Sheffield English Made “NY” Bone Handle Dirk is in Good Condition, with some light rounding to the blade tip, moderate sharpening and grinding to the blade edges, some cleaning, scratching, and pitting at each side of the blade, a hairline surface crack in the upper left handle scale, another hairline surface crack in the lower left handle scale, a deep surface crack in the lower left handle scale, the bottoms of the handle scales having slightly separated from the bottom tang, though the whole hilt still remains “tight as a drum”, and with some overall age wear evident. Most interestingly, it features a 5 1/4” bright double edge dagger blade, sports gorgeous, mellow yellowish brown genuine smooth bone scales secured by 4 nickel silver pins and with a matching nickel silver escutcheon at the left side, and is stamped at the ricasso with the model, “NY” (undoubtedly for New York to give the knife the “haute monde” of Eastern class), centered by a patriotic American style shield. It’s marked at the reverse ricasso with its maker, “ALEXANDER / SHEFFIELD”, boasts a matching nickel silver guard, and is complete with the original Antique US Civil War Era Brown Leather Scabbard in Good Condition, remaining quite a loose fit for the blade, and with moderate overall drying, surface cracking, and age wear evident. Most interestingly, it bears “chain link” line embossing down the front and back sides, carries a fully intact sewn belt loop at the upper back, and exhibits an elegant palm tree like decoration stamped at the middle reverse. The set is a fine example of a very rare, original Antique US Civil War Era Alexander Sheffield English Made “NY” Bone Handle Dirk.
MILITARY ARTIFACTS