Shown here, a small knife. My own thoughts are that it is probably of Scottish origin, and very very old. If both of those thoughts are correct I would assume it might have been owned by a wealthy person or member of the nobility. I like it very much. Blade size is 8.4cms. Overall length is 18.3cms. The grip appears to be horn? The furniture is probably silver, but I have no knowledge of the stone. What do you think about it? Thanks. Derek.

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My guess would be that's a modern knife, mostly because of the clip point blade. The whole item has a "modern custom knife" feel to it, with the filework, metal parts on the handle, and the gem at the end. What I mean by that is, a really old knife often seems like its either a practical working piece with only simple embellishments, or else a piece made for someone of wealth and therefore extremely elaborate to the point of being ornate artwork. This knife is made with a higher class of materials, but to me seems like designed to a more conservative modern taste.

I cant say much with any certainty, but two things spring to mind:

1: how old do you consider "very old"?

2: my gut instinct on that sort of decoration style makes me think of mid-victorian era work. the corrosion patination on the blade is also rather similar to the sort of depth of corrosion on 1860's-80's steel tools I have, which is probably making me inclined to think its that approximate date...

The gloss of the stone looks slightly on the machined side. Also, from the pictures the handle has no apparent wear allthough the blade is chipped. Could be a formal knife that has seen little practical use but that has been abused somehow. It's obviously old, but comparing to the Norwegian utility knives I've seen I'd say it's not more than 100 years old.
Did you recently polish the metal parts? If it's silver it would turn black quite fast unless it's polished. Pewter would keep shiny even if handled an not cleaned.

First, that is a very nice looking knife. The grip does appear to be horn. The stone I am not sure of but it does not appear to be cairngorm or amethyst, the more common stones found in Scottish knives. I do not think it is Scottish. I also agree that the blade appears to be more recent, maybe 150 years old but I am betting it is early 20th c. The jimping is interesting and does not appear to be a Scottish design nor do the silver fittings.

The overall look to me is Finnish although I have not seen a Finnish knife with a horn handle. Do you know anything about its origin?

The handle might be tortoise and it looks like this knife was used regularly . The blade may have been wider at the handle and longer as well at some point but has been altered by sharpening or repair. The file work on the blade spine seems to match the quality and style of the handle but the blade shape is a little crude. This might of been part of a larger set, A large dirk or hunting knife / hanger with by knives perhaps.

First of all it is a great looking knife.

Trying to "ascertain", is it is "Scottish" & approximate date is iffy.but here my thoughts -

Assuming it is "Scottish" ( at least in Genre ) then IMHO it dates from the "Victorian" period.

Most likely owned by an individual that had $$, but not ness. wealthy.
It is not, IMHO, a "Bi Knife" ( part of a dirk or "hanger set") These knives were "eating utensils " basically, & a lot different in design.
IMHO, it falls into the genre of a Sgain Dubh.

Puffer