Gaucho-Style Knife

[jswillems]

I've always loved this style of knife. I picked one up the other day and was wondering if anyone knew anything about it. I was able to find a little info on an older thread. It said that the AE&Co stands for Abrahamo Eberle who was a Brazilian knifemaker. I do not believe it to be very old. I was thinking maybe late to mid 1900's, but don't know for sure. I have not yet recieved the knife but here are the sellers picks. Thanks in advance!

-Josh

http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages/showimage.aspx?gid=94963&ppid=1122&image=333694397&images=333694397,333694428,333694452,333694484,333 694517,333694545,333694572,333694615,333694646,333 694676&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0

[Rick]

Ahh, you'll be wanting one of these to go with it . :)

[jswillems]

I apologize for my ignorance, but what is that?

-Josh

[Hotspur]

I guess I need one as well ;) Chris Evans was nice enough to help me with an almost identical example. Mine is a small one and just 24cm in its scabbard. I have seen some similar ranging up to quite large with that much length just in the blade. There is a bit more background shared in this thread.

http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=10522

I do know mine has been an everyday companion here for the past decade or so. Mine is a bit more tired it seems.

Cheers

GC

[Rick]

Ahh, you'll be wanting one of these to go with it . :)

Hi Josh, that's called a Bombilla; it's for sipping Mat'e from a gourd .

Anyway, nice knife .

[jswillems]

Thank you both for the information. I just have a quick question about ethnographic weapons in general. What is the typical thought about cleaning knives? I know with some collectables it is OK to clean them and with others you want to leave them as you find them. Thanks.

-Josh

[Lee]

The cleaning decision would depend a lot on the knife; from my impression that silver collectors like to keep items polished despite the gradual wear effect, I would say that in the case of your knife, there would be nothing wrong with an application of silver polish. I have occasionally polished the mounts on a few of my favorite gaucho knives, though others are still as I received them. (The ones I have polished are, of course, the 19th century ones I should not have polished - but they do look nice all shiny and I have only oiled the blade.)

Rick, nice straw - I, oddly, have a small silver mounted gourd which turned up in a local antique shop.

[Leah-WW]

Thank you both for the information. I just have a quick question about ethnographic weapons in general. What is the typical thought about cleaning knives? I know with some collectables it is OK to clean them and with others you want to leave them as you find them. Thanks.

-Josh

Hi Josh. I know I'm new here, but your question jumped out at me, as I am currently studying to become a Conservator, and this is the type of question we face for every object we treat.

As Lee has said, it is your knife and so you should do what you think best, but from a Conservation point of view the attitude of "minimal intervention" is usually prescribed. That is, "dirt" (which includes corrosion, tarnish etc.) which is damaging to the object (by e.g. a chemical reaction or oxidisation), or which is hindering understanding of the object (e.g. if it is obscuring decoration) is removed by cleaning by an appropriate means. Cleaning of "dirt" which does not fall into these categories is not usually done, because it may damage either the appearance of the object (for example by over-polishing), or the ability for the object to be understood (for example deposits which look like dirt to us may be the residue of a treatment applied to the surface by the maker or owner - it is therefore part of the object's history, and if it is not damaging the object it is usually left in place, as part of the object's life story).

Leah.

[jswillems]

Thank you both for your help. As I've mentioned before, I'm just starting this hobby so I want to try and make as few mistakes as possible. Thanks again.

-Josh

[Rick]

In the matter of polishing an item like this; I would take the approach of the original owner.
He would have taken pride in this knife; it would be kept polished.
Plate may wear away so polish gently.