Collections
Back New Search Tips |
Fur Trade Crooked Knife
|
Accession #: | 251.24 |
---|---|
Title: | Fur Trade Crooked Knife |
Object Type: | Knife, Crooked |
Participants: | |
Physical Description: | A crooked knife with a steel blade and an elaborately carved pistol-shaped handle. The carving designs include a four-leaf clover, diamonds, a tree form, and cross-hatching. The steel blade is embedded in the wooden handle. At the joining point the handle is wrapped in a 2-inch long pewter casing. A brass mending plate is fixed to the handle with four copper pins and one brass screw. |
Description: | During the fur trade era, this handmade crooked knife was a handy tool for planing curved wooden surfaces, particularly in making canoes. Fur traders gained a toehold in the uncharted Inland Northwest by establishing trading posts where furs were abundant. As long as Euro-American fashion demanded furs, these posts appeared, merged, and disappeared, opening the door to increased settlement, from missionaries and military, to travelers and scientists. |
Category: | History |
Dimensions: |
height 3"
length 8 1/2"
width 1 1/2"
|
Materials/Techniques: |
wood (plant material) (
steel (
pewter (tin alloy) (
brass (alloy) (
copper (metal) ( |
Related Exhibits: | |
Credit Line: | Gift of the Reverend J. Neilson Barry, 1919 |
To order a reproduction, inquire about permissions, or for information about prices see:
https://www.northwestmuseum.org/collections