Fluted Ivory Dagger

Product Description for Fluted Ivory Dagger

Maker: Lee Ferguson (click to see more by this maker)
Item num: 88999
*** This is handmade and one-of-a-kind ***
Blade length: 5.20 in.
Total length: 9.40 in.
Blade height (at heel): 1.10 in.
Blade thickness (near bolster): 0.12 in.
Item weight: 7.20 oz.
Shipment weight: 4.65 oz.
Blade: Hollow ground 440C stainless steel
Bolster: Oval guard formed from stainless steel and braided silver with heart shaped abalone window frames
Handle: Fluted pre-ban elephant ivory and braided silver wire with abalone ferrule
Sheath: Pre-ban elephant ivory scrimshawed by Mary Austin Tally, and nickel silver furniture engraved by Steve Lindsay
Description: Lee Ferguson's art knives are in great demand - from his stunning daggers, to his mighty broadswords and highly functional, yet profoundly elegant hunters. He takes an astonishing idea, weaves it through the craft skill in his hands, and produces some of the finest knives offered for sale in the world. Unassuming hunting, fishing and woodcarving knives are Lee's bread and butter, but in his fine art knives we see the imagination of this talented man soar.
Lee began by hollow grinding 440C stainless steel into a perfectly proportioned five inch dagger blade. The blade has been satin finished in the grinds and mirror polished on the flats - this emphasizes the prefect symmetry of the piece. The razor sharp edges end in two tiny, elegant spurs as they move into the ricasso.
The pointed oval guard was formed from a stunning piece of abalone stacked between two pieces of nickel silver. Heart-shaped cutouts on the front and rear of the guard reveal the pinkish-ivory flash of the abalone. Braided silver wire elegantly conceals each join.
The handle is formed from a single piece of pristine fluted pre-ban elephant ivory. The grain is so fine as to be almost imperceptible, and the color variation is very slight, tones ranging from winter white to heirloom lace. The fluting has been enhanced with more braided silver wire, set into the ivory's grooves.
Lee teamed up with artists Mary Austin Tally and Steve Lindsay to complete the sheath. The sheath itself, made by Lee, is formed from two section of well matched, pristine ivory. The scrimshaw, designed and executed by Mary Austin Tally, is a finely detailed nude gazing directly at the viewer, hair tumbling over her bare shoulders. The design was done at 20x magnification with metallic paint. Steve Lindsay's floral scrollwork on the nickel silver throat surrounds an abalone-inlaid frog, and matches the scrollwork on the tip. Both are simply exquisite, complementing the scrimshaw and overall design of the piece perfectly.
This knife was completed in July of 1984 and has been meticulously cared for. It is in as-new condition.


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