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NORTHERN PLAINS STYLE FULLY BEADED KNIFE SHEATH
WITH AN ORIGINAL J. RUSSELL “GREEN RIVER WORKS” KNIFE -
A VERY ATTRACTIVE SET IN EXCELLENT CONDITION WITH GREAT
EYE APPEAL: This is a beautifully executed
Northern Plains beaded knife sheath, the body measuring
just over 9 ¾” long and 2 ½” wide at the top opening.
Let me state from the onset, this sheath was created by
Kathy and Bob Brewer in 1997, and is so marked at the
top of the reverse with their “BKB 97” cartouche.
I have known of the Brewers since the 1980’s and the
quality and historical accuracy of their Native American
pieces – primarily in the styles of the Northern Plains
tribes – has always been held in the highest regard.
They have faithfully reproduced war shirts, leggings,
dresses, feathered and horned bonnets, bags of various
types and sheaths such as the one offered here for the
collector and hobbyist market, as well as producing
Native American costumes for several major cinematic
productions. To say they are well known would be a
gross understatement. The quality of their work and
their ability to recreate the correct designs, and then
age the pieces to present as the original pieces would
have after being used on the frontier, led to some of
their pieces unfortunately being passed off to
unsuspecting collectors as original pieces. I know this
was never the intent of the Brewers and they never
intended for their work to be used in this sort of
larceny. Eventually, in response to those black hearted
individuals who took advantage of the uninformed, the
Brewers began marking their pieces in the manner seen
here to interrupt the fraudulent acts. It is a credit
to the Brewers that they took these measures.
So…..with all that being said, this is really a
spectacular knife sheath and it presents as a fully
credible example of the highly decorated sheaths carried
by the Northern Plains tribes during the 19TH
Century. The design is well executed in historically
correct small seed beads in colors consistent with those
available on the plains from the traders. The colors
are the old soft muted hues, not the garish modern
colors one often sees on reproduction pieces. The
beadwork is extremely well done, with tight even rows.
All of the beadwork is tight and intact with no missing
beads, and no loose strands.
I have looked at the bead rows under strong
magnification and I cannot tell if sinew or thread was
used to attach the beads. I can say that natural sinew
was used to assemble the sheath. The beadwork was done
on what appears to be native-brain tanned buckskin and
the sheath has the correct rawhide liner. The sheath
holds its shape and all the stitching is intact. There
is a twisted buckskin cord at the top for attaching the
sheath to a belt, and the bottom of the sheath is
decorated with a bead-wrapped drop ending in two tin
cones holding sprigs of red horse hair.
The sheath is accompanied by an original, early
manufacture Russell Green River Knife. After a variety
of other successful business ventures, John Russell
established his famous knife works on the banks of the
Green River in his native Massachusetts in 1837. His
knives were maker marked as seen on this blade, “J.
RUSSELL & CO, GREEN RIVER WORKS”. It is believed
Russell began to add the metal bolster where the handle
scales meet the blade in 1860.
Russell’s maker’s mark that
included the diamond cartouche apparently came along
later. The characteristics of the maker’s mark on this
blade serve to date it to the 1860’s – 1890’s era – a
desirable early example.
This knife measures 10” in overall length, with a 5 ½”
long blade. This specimen presents in as close to
excellent condition as one is likely to find. The blade
is overall bright with a fully legible maker’s mark.
The edge shows some evidence of sharpening without any
loss of the blade’s the familiar original swelled
contour of the blade. The handle scales have an
attractive dark rose wood color, and present in
excellent condition with no breaks, splits or chips,
still held firmly in place with the original pins. The
tang has the early characteristic of the taper in the
thickness of the steel, tapering from the thickest at
the bolster to the thinnest at the top of the grip.
This is a great specimen of the early skinning and
butcher knives sold to the Indians, buffalo hunters,
trappers and settlers on the western frontier.
In spite of being a reproduction, this sheath is a very
attractive specimen and it presents in excellent
condition. Paired with the original J. Russell Green
River Works marked knife, this makes for a very striking
set which would be a great addition to your collection
to display with a Model 1876-79 Prairie Belt, one of the
1880’s Mills Cartridge Belts, or on a civilian buffalo
hunter’s cartridge belt. (0609) $750
NOTE:
If you are interested in other Native American
pieces and artifacts related to the American West,
browse through those listings via this link:
CLICK HERE
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