Any ideas on these

Rick · 20th January 2006, 10:41 PM

A lot of these are sailor's work also ; sometimes they are scrimshawed .
I can certainly see the martial use of these ; anything that puts a hole in the other guy .......

fearn · 21st January 2006, 07:07 AM

Hi,

Yep, I'd agree that the sword looks like the bill from a swordfish. I also think that the ivory blade on the knife looks like an "Inuit" snow knife ("Inuit" in the sense that I don't know whether it came from Greenland, Alaska, or Canada). No new opinions there.

That said....

1) dimensions would be real helpful.

2) I'm having real trouble figuring out what source. Walrus kind of makes sense, but the dimensions would help straighten that out, as would figuring out how much of a tusk that blade represents.

3) I've seen a number of mounted swordfish blades on Ebay in the last few years, and this one could have come from just about anywhere.

4) If the knife is a walrus ivory snow knife, the usual issues with CITES come into force, as I believe walruses are protected. Potentially NAGPRA, which protects Native American graves, would be an issue in the US. Hopefully you've got some provenance information that makes both of these moot.

Neat blades. I always like seeing something from my side of the tracks.

F

20th January 2006, 10:41 PM	#1
Rick Vikingsword Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 6,336	Swordfish A lot of these are sailor's work also ; sometimes they are scrimshawed . I can certainly see the martial use of these ; anything that puts a hole in the other guy .......

21st January 2006, 07:07 AM	#2
fearn Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 1,247	Hi, Yep, I'd agree that the sword looks like the bill from a swordfish. I also think that the ivory blade on the knife looks like an "Inuit" snow knife ("Inuit" in the sense that I don't know whether it came from Greenland, Alaska, or Canada). No new opinions there. That said.... 1) dimensions would be real helpful. 2) I'm having real trouble figuring out what source. Walrus kind of makes sense, but the dimensions would help straighten that out, as would figuring out how much of a tusk that blade represents. 3) I've seen a number of mounted swordfish blades on Ebay in the last few years, and this one could have come from just about anywhere. 4) If the knife is a walrus ivory snow knife, the usual issues with CITES come into force, as I believe walruses are protected. Potentially NAGPRA, which protects Native American graves, would be an issue in the US. Hopefully you've got some provenance information that makes both of these moot. Neat blades. I always like seeing something from my side of the tracks. F