Author Topic: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES  (Read 1964 times)

Offline k gahagan

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DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« on: March 25, 2020, 02:01:23 AM »
I've been taking advantage of my social distancing by working on some reproductions of original 18th century Dutch Trade knives. The copies are pictured with the original examples. These copies are made with hand forged blades about 5 1/2" and carved Rosewood handles like the originals. There are three different designs being shown here although they all seem to be made up of variations of the same design elements.














picture url

Offline Greg Pennell

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2020, 02:09:22 AM »
Man,those are sweet!  I saw ‘em on fakebook, but the pictures are much better definition here...probably because of the way the site hosts them.  Just curious...about what is the time frame for a piece like these?

Greg
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Offline k gahagan

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #2 on: March 25, 2020, 02:35:52 AM »
Greg, These were prevalent in the late 17th century and early 18th.

Offline David G

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #3 on: March 25, 2020, 03:01:05 AM »
Outstanding ! Can you give us any further historical background on this type of knife ?

Offline Ian Pratt

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2020, 03:14:55 AM »
Fantastic work , and always great to see something different. Definitely an underrepresented type!

Offline old george

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2020, 03:16:08 AM »
Good looking knives, should fit the Hudson/Mohawk valleys???

george
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Offline Oil Derek

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2020, 04:03:43 AM »
Stunning work Ken, the aging, well ...

Offline Marcruger

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2020, 05:43:27 AM »
I saw the original and one of Ken's creations at the CLA show.  Beautiful work, and that carved handle has great gripping texture.  Really nicely done as usual Ken.  I have one of Ken's knives, and it is of fine quality and detail.  I imagine he's going to have PMs in his in-box wanting to buy these before they make it to a show.  God Bless,  Marc

Offline BOB HILL

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #8 on: March 25, 2020, 07:27:55 AM »
More great work, Ken. Thanks for sharing.
Bob
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Offline Craig Wilcox

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #9 on: March 25, 2020, 07:33:59 PM »
Beautiful work, Ken!  Especially those handles.  PM me when you decide to sell a few.
Craig Wilcox
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Offline Nordnecker

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #10 on: March 25, 2020, 08:14:26 PM »
Wow! Never seen anything like that. I'm curious about the rosewood handles. I tend to think of Dalbergus Nigra (sp?) Is that was generally used on the originals? Is that what you are using?
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Offline WH1

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #11 on: March 26, 2020, 01:59:31 PM »
Beautiful group of knives Ken as always the carved handles are interesting, love rosewood.  Not sure if I am asking this correctly, were the standard patterns used by the dutch a result of their culture or the native cultures they were trading with?

Offline Bull Shannon

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #12 on: March 26, 2020, 02:15:59 PM »
Wow! Never seen anything like that. I'm curious about the rosewood handles. I tend to think of Dalbergus Nigra (sp?) Is that was generally used on the originals? Is that what you are using?
I'm curious about this as well. Where did the Dutch get the Rosewood from?
You can't kill a man who is born to hang!

Offline Elnathan

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Re: DUTCH TRADE KNIVES
« Reply #13 on: March 26, 2020, 03:43:41 PM »
Wow! Never seen anything like that. I'm curious about the rosewood handles. I tend to think of Dalbergus Nigra (sp?) Is that was generally used on the originals? Is that what you are using?
I'm curious about this as well. Where did the Dutch get the Rosewood from?

The Dutch were big empire builders and rivals to the English and French during the 17th century, and had many colonies and trading depots out in India, SE Asia (East Indies), and even Japan at Nagasaki (yeah, that Nagasaki). They lost ground during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, but Indonesia remained a Dutch colony until it was captured by the Japanese during WWII. They also had colonies in the Caribbean, though I don't know much about those.

Tropical hardwoods were also used in trade knives by the British, I believe, though written information on trade knives is surprising hard to come by. If making a repro scalper, Pau Ferro, Paudauk, or ebony are probably more likely wood choices than maple or walnut.

Remember that by the 18th century, there was extensive trade networks spanning the globe. That tea that ended up in Boston Harbor came from India or China, and Indian textiles - printed cotton fabrics - were common in the colonies.
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