Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

RobT · 17th December 2024, 01:15 AM

Ian,

I went to the link you provided and found six knives with cross guards. Although it has a cross guard, I don’t think anyone would consider Robert’s example (made by Castro and Son) to be in any way be consistent what would be termed a Bowie (especially the yataghan-like blade). The same can be said of your Apalit knife with a cross guard (and the 1945 date takes it out of contention anyway). Obviously, Battara’s serpentine bladed short sword with cross guard doesn’t qualify.
This leaves us with three knives for consideration. The aluminum ferrule and cross guard on Rafngard’s knife makes a WWII vintage a pretty safe bet. Rafngard’s other example (which is completely consistent with the Philippine Bowie style WWII bring back) has a brass ferrule and cross guard so it could have conceivably been made prior to WWII but, on the other hand, there is nothing about it to say that it couldn’t have been made post WWII either and Rafngard offers no opinion on age.
We are now left your N Castro blade which, like Rafngard’s brass mounted example, is exactly the type of knife I am talking about. Unlike Rafngard, you do give an age estimate and say, “Judging from the writing on this one, which is in the Art Nouveau/Art Deco style, I would guess this one dates from 1920-1930.”
As a big fan of the Art Nouveau (and a lesser fan of the Art Deco) and as a former typographer, please indulge my brief didacticism because it is important to the topic at hand. Art Nouveau is based on the curvilinear organic line and the typefaces chosen echo this (take a look at Alphonse Mucha’s advertising posters). Böcklin is the archetypical Nouveau typeface. Art Deco, on the other hand consists of geometric, machine made shapes (both straight and curved) and the type faces (usually san serif) reflect this. Compare the work of Mucha with the poster for the ocean liner Normandie by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre and you will see that the zeitgeist behind Art Nouveau is totally different from that of Art Deco. As a matter of fact, Deco was a reaction against Nouveau which was considered old fashioned.
The type on your knife is Deco. The deco period is given as 1910-ish to the 1930s but it really didn’t end there. After the Deco came Stramline Moderne (and American Streamline) which was even more spare and extended the style into the 1940s. Still not done, the Deco sensibility carried forward and was democratized (or, depending on your point of view, vulgarized) as the Nifty Fifties. A 59 caddy is as Deco as it gets.
So, based on the typeface, your blade could have been made anywhere from 1910-ish to the early 1960s.

Sincerely,
RobT

17th December 2024, 01:15 AM	#13
RobT Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 523	Deco Style Typeface Ian, I went to the link you provided and found six knives with cross guards. Although it has a cross guard, I don’t think anyone would consider Robert’s example (made by Castro and Son) to be in any way be consistent what would be termed a Bowie (especially the yataghan-like blade). The same can be said of your Apalit knife with a cross guard (and the 1945 date takes it out of contention anyway). Obviously, Battara’s serpentine bladed short sword with cross guard doesn’t qualify. This leaves us with three knives for consideration. The aluminum ferrule and cross guard on Rafngard’s knife makes a WWII vintage a pretty safe bet. Rafngard’s other example (which is completely consistent with the Philippine Bowie style WWII bring back) has a brass ferrule and cross guard so it could have conceivably been made prior to WWII but, on the other hand, there is nothing about it to say that it couldn’t have been made post WWII either and Rafngard offers no opinion on age. We are now left your N Castro blade which, like Rafngard’s brass mounted example, is exactly the type of knife I am talking about. Unlike Rafngard, you do give an age estimate and say, “Judging from the writing on this one, which is in the Art Nouveau/Art Deco style, I would guess this one dates from 1920-1930.” As a big fan of the Art Nouveau (and a lesser fan of the Art Deco) and as a former typographer, please indulge my brief didacticism because it is important to the topic at hand. Art Nouveau is based on the curvilinear organic line and the typefaces chosen echo this (take a look at Alphonse Mucha’s advertising posters). Böcklin is the archetypical Nouveau typeface. Art Deco, on the other hand consists of geometric, machine made shapes (both straight and curved) and the type faces (usually san serif) reflect this. Compare the work of Mucha with the poster for the ocean liner Normandie by Adolphe Mouron Cassandre and you will see that the zeitgeist behind Art Nouveau is totally different from that of Art Deco. As a matter of fact, Deco was a reaction against Nouveau which was considered old fashioned. The type on your knife is Deco. The deco period is given as 1910-ish to the 1930s but it really didn’t end there. After the Deco came Stramline Moderne (and American Streamline) which was even more spare and extended the style into the 1940s. Still not done, the Deco sensibility carried forward and was democratized (or, depending on your point of view, vulgarized) as the Nifty Fifties. A 59 caddy is as Deco as it gets. So, based on the typeface, your blade could have been made anywhere from 1910-ish to the early 1960s. Sincerely, RobT