Nice, Civil War, G. Wostenholm, Antique Bowie Knife With Original Sheath. For Sale

This Antique Bowie Knife was manufactured around the 1850s to 1860s.  Wostenholm was making Bowie knives at Washington Works since 1847. 

It has the original sheath with a leather frog and tip which was added during its period of use.  A large \"IXL\" in gold embossed letters are visible on the sheath.

The owner lovingly cared for this knife and used it for a long time, and it likely saw Civil War use.  Reinforcing the tip with leather added length, which in the case with this knife came in very useful as the guard broke off and gained a little over 1/2\" to the length of the blade.   In the last photo the crack in the  guard is shown.  In reality the guards were actually kinda useless.  They got in the way of using the knife in a variety of different grips and hindered its versatility.  And, actually, most knives carried in the civil war, and by pioneers were the simple, and more practical, guardless butcher knives (which soldiers carried rolled up in their blankets with their field gear) not Bowie Knives that have so much legend and lore in American history. 

It\'s not a large Bowie but it\'s surprisingly heavy for its size with a thick (1/4\") solid full tang blade that is 6-7/8\" long.  It shows very old sharpening and edge wear from use.

The knife and sheath comes with a separate leather belt attachment.  Though they certainly look made for each other it\'s not original to the knife and sheath.  It\'s actually an old, late 1800s hide-away coin pouch that attaches to the leg under the clothing.  It\'s been repurposed to hold the sheath and can be easily sewn on to a CW period belt to wear or display. 

The rich golden-yellow handle is 4-3/8\". Overall length is 10-3/4\". 

The original anvil shaped guard had a crack and was broken off and can be seen in last picture.

Overall this knife is in good + condition.