In the 70’s and 1980’s; I haunted antique stores, flea markets, “Junque Shoppes” and similar places from South Carolina to Massachusetts, all over Indiana and everywhere I traveled where the Corps sent me, whilst looking for two and three prong forks and period knives that could be used at living histories, buckskinning and reenacting. Most of these were wood handled, of course, but some were bone.
I saw them in every state of condition from dug relic to looking like they were just old like something I might find in my Grandfather’s house. On the ones that pieces of the pewter was missing and especially the bone handled ones, the inletting for the pewter was never very deep and actually was quite shallow. This agrees with what T.C. Albert mentioned about not putting much hot pewter on or in bone so it would not crack.
I purchased one set of bone handled knives and forks that were kind of classy, though they were silver plate and not true silver. The maker’s name dated them to the 1840’s, but there was not an entire “service for 8 or more.” I think there were 5 forks and 7 knives. There was no pewter used on them and they were all short tanged and glued into the bone handles. The bolster on each piece mated up to the front of the bone handle with no glue line visible. However, one knife had a broken handle and I remember noticing a sort of light brown color glue inside. Not sure if it was hide glue, but I don’t think it was shellac.
From what I have learned, 18th century cutlers used black pine tar pitch glue that was mixed with brick dust to fill up the void in the handles on trade knives.. I think the brick dust was supposed to give it body and strength, but that is just my speculation from reading, rather than something that was definitively written.
Gus
