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More about Knives

E2077-0 - Flensing KnifeBack

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Description

Knife with a long iron blade hafted in a two-piece handle made from whalebone. A hide thong wrapped around the handle secures the blade, and would have made the handle easier to grip. The blade is sharpened along one edge only. Two pairs of lines cut into the back of the blade near the handle may be ownership marks. This object is identified in the Smithsonian Institution catalogue as a 'blubber knife', and was probably used for flensing beluga and bowhead whales.

Information from the Smithsonian

FROM CARD: "ILLUS. IN PROCEEDINGS, USNM, VOL. 60; NO. 5; P. 48."

  • Collection: Macfarlane Collection
  • Catalogue Number: E2077-0
  • Object Type: knife
  • Materials: hide, iron, bone
  • Manufacturing Techniques: cutting, lashing
  • Tags: tool

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