The Four Kachina's, Art Daggers by: Willie Rigney, Jim Ence, Billy Mace Imel & Gary Blanchard
Three Kachina knives were originally Commissioned by J.W. Bailey at the Anaheim Knife show in 1985, Gary Blanchard would collaborate with three knife makers to produce these fantastic daggers. eric Meyers, a world famous knife collector, then bought the three knives & contracted Gary Blanchard to complete the series with a fourth knife. These four handmade art knives then lived in Switzerland, moved to New York, moved again to a ranch in Michigan & then finally came back to California where it all started. The Four Kachina's were inspired by the ancestral spirits in Pueblo mythology. The original concept & design was by Gary Blanchard, he asked Willie Rigney, Jim Ence & Billy Mace Imel to work on the project. The plan was to create four custom art daggers with a three dimensional Kachina or Social Dancer carved within the center portion of the blade. Gary was told by the steel company that the process of carving into the steel was impossible, yet here they are. Gary did all the carvings with specific requirements for the shape & detail. This series only had four knives painstakingly hand crafted, each dagger is a one of a kind. Over 2000 combined man-hours to complete the four knives, from 1986 to 1992. Here is a brief description of each custom art dagger. #1: The White Buffalo Dance, the first knife in the series by Willie Rigney & Gary Blanchard. Using 440c, guard & pommel in blued steel & handle of fluted walrus fossil with 24K gold, gold bow string & the small sea shells are individually carved from a cameo shell. #2: The eagle Kachina, by Jime ence & Gary Blanchard. Blade of damascus & blued steel fixtures, the balls of the guard & pommel are ivory as is the handle with 24K gold wire & lizard skin. The embellishment took 480 hours & was completed in 1988. The graceful flowing wings were accomplished by carving each feather out of ivory & inlaying them on at a time. Headdress is made from turquoise. The beak & bells are solid gold & the necklace is carved from ivory & turquoise, then strung on wire. #3: The Sun Kachina, by Billy Mace Imel & Gary Blanchard. With blued steel blade & fixtures, handle is black buffalo horn as are the balls of the guard & the pommel. embellishment of the knife & fixtures took 537 man hours to complete in 1990. This was the first project where Gary used his ceramic resin process, used in the headdress instead of red coral to get the needed detail. Other inlays are turquoise, black buffalo horn, red coral & 24K gold. The beaded bands include over 1500 beads, all were individually hand sanded & fitted into place. #4: The Broad Faced Kachina, the final Kachina by Gary Blanchard. The surfaces have been grounded to look as though it had been flint knapped. The handle & other portions of the guard & pommel are made of elk horn. Within the blade, the three dimensional figure is overlaid with colored sand, inlays consist of sand, elk horn, sterling silver & 24K gold. The making of this knife took 560 hours to complete in 1992. each knife is beautifully preserved & in outstanding condition, showing only a few insignificant handling marks. A fifth blade is included, this blank example blade was made by Billy Mace Imel & shows you what a Kachina blade would look like before the carving & embellishment. This lot comes with several items of Provenance, including printed copies of letters by Gary Blanchard & Billy Mace Imel. There is also an outline of the history of the Four Kachina's. The "White Buffalo Dance'' was featured in Blade Magazine December 1987. The "eagle Kachina" was featured in Knives Illustrated Spring 1988. The "Sun Kachina" featured in a 2014 Japanese Knife Magazine. There is also an included Blade Magazine showing an advertisement of the Four Kachinas. There are many letters & print outs describing the history of these artisan knives. This set comes with a wooden display box with a red velvet interior. The box is in nice condition, showing light to moderate wear. But wait, there's more. Also included is the hardcover book "Modern Custom Knives, The Great Collections" by David Darom. This collectors book features one of the owners of the Four Kachina's. Also included is a custom made glass & wood display cabinet with fitted acrylic slots to hold each dagger firmly in place. The cabinet has a built in lights, motor & battery pack, the knives rotate in this very nice display. The wood shows light marks & remains in Fine overall condition. These master crafted art daggers belong in a museum. This a Rare once in a lifetime opportunity to own four of arguably the most significant handmade knives in the world.
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