An Introduction to the Bowie Knife
While the Bowie knife is inextricable from American weapons-history, many of the most desirable iterations of it originated in the English city of Sheffield. A type of large, fixed-blade knife, the Bowie is synonymous with the American frontier and was named after Jim Bowie, a 19th-century American frontiersman widely known during his lifetime for his fighting skills. His employment of a large knife in a duel known as the Sandbar Fight helped to create a legend that only amplified with his death at the Alamo and this gave great fame to the knife named after him.
The original Bowie knife was supposedly designed by James Black, a blacksmith from Arkansas. It featured a blade that was about 9 inches long and 1.5 inches wide, with a sharpened edge on one side and a false edge on the other. The large blade had a clipped point which made it good at piercing, and a guardless ‘coffin’ handle that was shaped to fit comfortably in the hand.
Since that first example, the design of the Bowie knife evolved to include a wide variety of blade-shapes, sizes, and materials; and all manner of guard-forms. There are so many forms, in fact, that no clear parameters seem to define the type and any large, simple knife can fall under the Bowie umbrella.
With a significant amount of Bowies being made in the industrial powerhouse that was Victorian city of Sheffield, naturally, some never reached American shores and were, instead, exported to Europe and the British Empire. The knife found popularity amongst British Army officers and those adventuring gentlemen who found themselves hunting and fighting on the dangerous frontiers of India and Africa. Indeed, the first knife used to illustrate this article was made by Bodraj of Aurungabad, India; while the second is likely Spanish. Makers set up shop all over the world and often used the exciting tales of the American West to market their wares.
But why was it so popular? In short: because of its usefulness. One of the key features of the Bowie knife is its versatility. It was robust enough to be used for chopping branches while still giving the cutting precision required in the many tasks associated in the processing of carcasses. It could be used to shave with as much as it could be used as a pry bar. Indeed, some antique examples can be found today with small tools slotted into their handles: such as picks, tweezers, scissors and smaller knives.
As for the most obvious employment, self-defence, its formidable size alone might sometimes be enough to scare off a would-be assailant—for, to carry a Bowie prominently on the belt was to signal your handiness and hardiness. If the need arose, it would be a dependable close-combat weapon often with quillons to protect the user’s hand and always with a blade that could cut as well as it could thrust.
Nowadays, the Bowie remains a popular icon of American survival, of outdoorsmanship and the ‘Taming of the West’ and while newly made examples are easily available it is the antique knife that demands the highest prices at auction. Possessing examples by notable makers and with original conditions requires either deep pockets or the ability to sniff out a bargain. Happily, though, Bowies are easy to display, and need much less space than antique swords.
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