by Heinz Ahlers The CLF is proud to be able to offer at auction this finely crafted traditional belt knife donated by Benjamin Hoffman. This is a re-creation of the kind of hand crafted knife made by an accomplished frontier smith who was proud of his work and touch marked it. All of the work in this piece is traditional, hand forged on a coal forge, hand turned wood, hand cast pewter. In addition to historically correct methods , Ben has...
by Jack Weeks Through genealogy research, we found that my fifth great grandfather, Charles Adams 1745-1780, a farmer in northwest North Carolina, was a member of the North Carolina Rangers. He fought in Revolutionary War battles in the southern theater from 1776 until his death in 1780. He served with General Griffith Rutherford during the Cherokee Campaign and with Captain William Lenoir's Company in both the Surry and Wilkes County Militia. This hunting bag reflects the design that he might have...
by Heinz Ahlers Donald Shaver is donating a ladle inspired by an original 18th century piece. Don made this treenware ladle of Mulberry he harvested himself and dried for 2 years. He finished the ladle with bear grease bringing out the natural color of the mulberry.. The ladle has 4 sterling silver inlays. The two inlays on the back of the bowl have coin silver pins cut from a dime and the two heart shaped inlays bracketing the handle have...
by Heinz Ahlers The classic knife of the early American frontier, the single edged longhunters knife, was the working tool of the rifleman. Although these knives were often made from imported butcher knives, the longhunter frequently sought out the products of the skilled frontier smith for a knife that was a bit stouter and had a finer steel blade than the cheap butcher knives. The longknife and tomahawk were the everyday working tools of the frontier hunter and doubled as...
by Heinz Ahlers Joshua Crain has recreated one of those icons of the Mississippi River culture, the push dagger. This style was popular in New Orleans during the 1800s where it was known as a gimlet knife. One was involved in the Wilson - Anthony fight between elected officials in the Arkansas State Legislature in 1836. These knives have waxed and waned in popularity since the 17th century, this fine little rig of Joshua Crain's may bring them back. This hand...
by Heinz Ahlers The 2015 CLF Fundraising Auction is proud to present this beautiful Tansel styled horn. This horn was created by Steve Vance, Glenn Sutt, Scott Morrison, and Steve Skillman, all from the Northwest Horn Makers group. The horn has many of the features of Tansel family horns from the Indiana period. The Tansel family made horns from about 1795 through 1850. They are known to have worked in Scott County, Kentucky and Hendricks County, Indiana. At least one Francis Tansel...
by Heinz Ahlers The knife is a special piece of equipment; knives can be cooking tools or butchering tools, wood carvers or weapons. For a longhunter, the knife was expected to be all the-se things. This put a lot of demands on the knife, it had to be tough enough to split out a deer pelvis, sharp enough to cut hair, handy enough to whittle, useful for cutting meat and chopping turnips, and a killing edge when the rifle was...
by Heinz Ahlers It's desperate measures for desperate times, or so the saying goes, and hard times can turn desperate in a flash. A cat-a-mount "painter", a rogue old black bear, or even a cunning red fox preying on the livestock could set a mountain family back in no time, and the predator would have to be dealt with before total ruination set in. Once hard times struck, bad weather, a failed crop, a broken gun or even a simple shortage...
by Heinz Ahlers Glen Mock is noted for his outstanding knife making and has previously donated to the CLF Auction. We are specially indebted to our multiple year donors. This year Bill Wright teamed up with Glen and pushed him a bit outside of his comfort zone. As a result of this collaboration the CLF is proud to offer a unique and charming Glen Mock spoon and fork set in a Bill Wright brain tanned and quilled pouch. The hand forged...
by Heinz Ahlers The CLF Fundraising auction is proud to present this mid-18th century Eastern Woodland/Great Lakes style quilled bag by Djuana Tucker. Djuana has over 10 years experience in quillwork and credits Bruce Horne and Chuck Edwards with getting her started in this dimension of living history. Djuana can be seen at living history events throughout the midwest and refers to Fort de Chartres, in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, as her home base. Here is Djuana's piece in her...
by Heinz Ahlers The CLF is proud to present for auction this 11 X 14 Fraktur style colored drawing. Fraktur is an art form introduced in America by the Pennsylvania Germans with some of the earliest work being done by the Ephrata Cloister in Lancaster County. The term Fraktur can describe a form of calligraphy, a font type, or generally the colorful floral and figurative drawings and paintings that started as illumination for birth and baptismal certificates and evolved to...
by Heinz Ahlers and Gary Corum Gary Corum has created a late 18th to early 19th century knife in the lower Mississippi River Valley style. The knife is 12 inches overall with a 7-inch blade. The blade is hand forged 1095 steel, a high performance knife steel with excellent edge holding properties. This entire knife is expertly hand made by Gary. There are several interesting touches to this piece. The blade is rather pointy, and the shape is a precursor to...
by Heinz Ahlers Steve Auvenshine has generously donated this fine boot knife to the 2015 CLF Fundraising Auction. This beautiful knife, 9 inches overall, showcases Steves well-known talents as a knife maker. The knife has a dagger shaped single edged blade with a period correct crocus finish. It features silver mounts, including the silver overlays on the ricasso of the blade. All the silver mounts including the coffin inlay, are punch decorated. Steve related an interesting history on the knife. The knife is...
by Heinz Ahlers Paul Bigham has created this handsome knife.The dark finished blade, one piece curly maple handle and dark finished grip cap make a knife with a great deal of style. Paul hand forged this knife and from 1084 steel and it features a full length tang with a riveted steel grip cap and a steel cross guard. Combined with the dark sheath made by Steve Helfrich this knife exhibits the clean simple design of the best 18th century Frontier...
Matthew Fennewald and Alec Fourman have combined their efforts to produce this outstanding historically correct otter pouch and buffalo horn set for the 2015 CLF Fundraising Auction. You may remember Matt's hand crafted bow commemorating Choctaw Chief Pushmataha. It sold very well in the 2013 auction. Matt and Alec are both stickers for thorough research and authenticity. Matt and Alec relied on a quote by James Adair as the inspiration for this work. Adair came to America in 1735, and...
By Heinz Ahlers The hunting pouch and horn are symbols of the American frontier. By the early 19th century you could tell a lot about a man by his pouch and horn, pouches showed distinct regional variations, wide ranges in quality from home made to finest cordwainers work, and variations in size and shape based on use. Bill Smith has donated a pouch representative of the professional quality bag made for frontier use. Bill has donated a double bag of finely...
by Heinz Ahlers Dan Fruth is donating a pre Revolutionary War styled rifle. Dan handled the original he based this rifle on and took the measurements used. This is a Valley of Virginia styled gun, perhaps from Augusta County. The barrel, by Ed Rayle, was copied from dimensions taken from the original. It is 43" long and 1 1/8" breech at the breech, with a 50 calibre rifled bore. The lock is a Chambers Colonial Virginia. The trigger guard and...
by Heinz Ahlers Tom Greco has donated a fine pouch and horn set with a matching belt pouch. The bag style is typical of Eastern Pennsylvania and is paired with a southern style horn suggesting an owner who moved down the Great Wagon Road as the frontier spread westward. Oil tanned buffalo hide is used in both the shoulder bag and belt pouch. Tom's craftsmanship and attention to detail are apparent in the pillow ticking lining, welted seams and double...
by Heinz Ahlers Bill Pritchard has been building rifles in Maysville since 1976, when he was motivated by the activities of the Bicentennial to try his hand at building flintlock longrifles. Bill was largely self taught, guided by Kindig, Thoughts on the Kentucky in Its Golden Age; Shumway, Rifles of Colonial America; and Recreating the Kentucky Rifle by Buchle. Bill estimates he has built about 75 rifles, 25 to 30 in the 5 years since he retired, and one or...
