- Joined
- Oct 8, 2001
- Messages
- 12,329
Hi folks,
I've been collecting the knives from retired maker Hill Pearce for over ten years. I learned about Hill only upon first seeing and acquiring one of his stylish 'Mediterranean Bowies' off of eBay in 2003. (Bought it off of Wayne Reno in CO. A longtime maker himself, who I have not heard from in many years. He hated parting with this, but finances called.)
I'd learned much. From there on, I followed a quest to continue acquiring and admiring his works. As far as I know, by 2014 I've probably got the largest amount of HP's knives in one collection. I own (19) of his pieces. As this thread will live, so will my numbers, and so will everyone else's appreciation. Certainly mine.
Let's take a quick look at the one which stole my heart:
At a glance the curves are sexy, slender and sleek, and the knife is simply too pointy. Like a car with 500+ HP, that's just right.
The characteristic filework is organic and flowing, changing it's mind and pleasing us with non-ritual patterns. His ricasso filework is viewed and decorates in two intentional dimensions: From the top, and from the sides. A single-sided chisel swedge is his hallmark.
And then his 'Spanish Notch'.... one can study this for hours wondering HOW the pattern evolved. Very telling.
Hill and I have talked may times, but not in the past four to five years. I hope he is well. He retired from knifemaking in 1990, and told me he would not return. "That was then, this is now. I can't return to that era."
Hill started his knife making career on the heels of his custom black powder 'Kentucky' muzzle-loader riflesmithing. His mark is a simple script 'P'. He would use tar to cover that area, and then hand draw the mark with a scribe through the tar and then etch it. If the mark was on the heel of the knife, he used 'Damascus USA' steel. If it was on the ricasso, he forged it himself.
Here's a couple of his earlier pieces from the seventies:
He told me knives were easier and more convenient to make AND sell. His early mentors were the late Sid Birt and Bob Watts. He regularly brought them to Friendship, IN where the annual Muzzle Loader Convention was held, along with historical reenactment weekends. (I'm told he would come early with a few at a BIG price tag, and by Sunday eve he was always willing to make a much better deal to get the funds to get back home.)
He made tons of 'bread and butter' unembellished knives to sell for the reenactment crowd. I finally acquired one this past year:
By 1983 he had developed a style which he called '20th Century Alabama'. He traveled to Guild Shows and local gun shows and captured the early 'Wooden Sword' award in 1983 along with a young Bob Lum. See the captures below from some of the early Knives Annuals.
In the later eighties, he even traveled to the NYCKS and tabled with the late, great Jim Schmidt, MS a couple of times. You can see similarities in both maker's styles.
Here is a pair of very similar knives which embody his style in spades:
He also had a unique 'take' on the Bowie. He felt the bowie was a fighting knife which needed a lively blade. He purposely engineered the handle so the grip was barely with three fingers and you can rock it and manipulate it like drumsticks (my description not his.) It dances around in the hand. He did not want the hand to clench it tight. If you had the chance to hold this you'd feel what he meant.
Whether it's the best method for fighting is debatable, however, it's design was intentional for this function. It also adds a styling aspect which is all his.
His integrals are STILL unsurpassed. Below is a knife he designed for an Artists and Metal Show in TX. I'm told other makers included Don Fogg and Murad Sayen at the time. He told me he didn't like this one. He felt it was sub par to the other makers he was surrounded by.
And another: Fluted ivory and carved integral bolster. If I had to lose EVERY knife in my entire collection but one, I would choose this one:
This one below has such characteristically Hill Pearce look to it, you can tell it from across the room.
Let me show you some of his folders. He made quite a few.
And a group shot of many of them, along with his engaging filework:
Like many makers from that era, he had a sparse catalog with some examples. I was fortunate to have been given a copy (Thanks JJTR!)
Here's an interesting grouping. I need to do a current family photo, but this is still telling.
These two below did not make it into that photo, as they were acquired later.
Probably his 'Tour de Force' would be this forged Khyber. The blade is almost 16" long and has a forged 'T' section. he related that this allowed it to be thin and VERY light, yet strong and not flexible. The tip is wide to penetrate armor or chain mail. He was insistent to recreate this as it was designed for the 18th century Middle Eastern soldiers.
Look closely at the details. That's the nerve center of the elephant ivory which is showing at the butt end. (In c1984 it wasn't unusual to use this exotic material often.)
I was fortunate to have gotten a note and a call from a past collector who was ready to turn a piece over.
The collector was the original owner and purchased this piece in 1979 directly from Hill at Friendship IN. The inviting ebony handle melts into your hand. It's a bit weathered, yet almost 35 years old. Cracks are evident. Still, it has the HP hallmarks which make you study it VERY closely. Here's my latest acquisition:
My HP threads are scattered all over the net. I decided to generate this thread to create a singular point of reference and growth for my collection and knowledge. And yours too.
If you have any remembrances and stories, I'd love to hear them. I have more images and info too, which I can add later.
Thanks for viewing.
Coop
I've been collecting the knives from retired maker Hill Pearce for over ten years. I learned about Hill only upon first seeing and acquiring one of his stylish 'Mediterranean Bowies' off of eBay in 2003. (Bought it off of Wayne Reno in CO. A longtime maker himself, who I have not heard from in many years. He hated parting with this, but finances called.)
I'd learned much. From there on, I followed a quest to continue acquiring and admiring his works. As far as I know, by 2014 I've probably got the largest amount of HP's knives in one collection. I own (19) of his pieces. As this thread will live, so will my numbers, and so will everyone else's appreciation. Certainly mine.
Let's take a quick look at the one which stole my heart:
At a glance the curves are sexy, slender and sleek, and the knife is simply too pointy. Like a car with 500+ HP, that's just right.
The characteristic filework is organic and flowing, changing it's mind and pleasing us with non-ritual patterns. His ricasso filework is viewed and decorates in two intentional dimensions: From the top, and from the sides. A single-sided chisel swedge is his hallmark. And then his 'Spanish Notch'.... one can study this for hours wondering HOW the pattern evolved. Very telling.
Hill and I have talked may times, but not in the past four to five years. I hope he is well. He retired from knifemaking in 1990, and told me he would not return. "That was then, this is now. I can't return to that era."
Hill started his knife making career on the heels of his custom black powder 'Kentucky' muzzle-loader riflesmithing. His mark is a simple script 'P'. He would use tar to cover that area, and then hand draw the mark with a scribe through the tar and then etch it. If the mark was on the heel of the knife, he used 'Damascus USA' steel. If it was on the ricasso, he forged it himself.
Here's a couple of his earlier pieces from the seventies:
He told me knives were easier and more convenient to make AND sell. His early mentors were the late Sid Birt and Bob Watts. He regularly brought them to Friendship, IN where the annual Muzzle Loader Convention was held, along with historical reenactment weekends. (I'm told he would come early with a few at a BIG price tag, and by Sunday eve he was always willing to make a much better deal to get the funds to get back home.
)He made tons of 'bread and butter' unembellished knives to sell for the reenactment crowd. I finally acquired one this past year:
By 1983 he had developed a style which he called '20th Century Alabama'. He traveled to Guild Shows and local gun shows and captured the early 'Wooden Sword' award in 1983 along with a young Bob Lum. See the captures below from some of the early Knives Annuals.
In the later eighties, he even traveled to the NYCKS and tabled with the late, great Jim Schmidt, MS a couple of times. You can see similarities in both maker's styles.
Here is a pair of very similar knives which embody his style in spades:
He also had a unique 'take' on the Bowie. He felt the bowie was a fighting knife which needed a lively blade. He purposely engineered the handle so the grip was barely with three fingers and you can rock it and manipulate it like drumsticks (my description not his.) It dances around in the hand. He did not want the hand to clench it tight. If you had the chance to hold this you'd feel what he meant.
Whether it's the best method for fighting is debatable, however, it's design was intentional for this function. It also adds a styling aspect which is all his.
His integrals are STILL unsurpassed. Below is a knife he designed for an Artists and Metal Show in TX. I'm told other makers included Don Fogg and Murad Sayen at the time. He told me he didn't like this one. He felt it was sub par to the other makers he was surrounded by.
And another: Fluted ivory and carved integral bolster. If I had to lose EVERY knife in my entire collection but one, I would choose this one:
This one below has such characteristically Hill Pearce look to it, you can tell it from across the room.
Let me show you some of his folders. He made quite a few.
And a group shot of many of them, along with his engaging filework:
Like many makers from that era, he had a sparse catalog with some examples. I was fortunate to have been given a copy (Thanks JJTR!)
Here's an interesting grouping. I need to do a current family photo, but this is still telling.
These two below did not make it into that photo, as they were acquired later.
Probably his 'Tour de Force' would be this forged Khyber. The blade is almost 16" long and has a forged 'T' section. he related that this allowed it to be thin and VERY light, yet strong and not flexible. The tip is wide to penetrate armor or chain mail. He was insistent to recreate this as it was designed for the 18th century Middle Eastern soldiers.
Look closely at the details. That's the nerve center of the elephant ivory which is showing at the butt end. (In c1984 it wasn't unusual to use this exotic material often.
)
I was fortunate to have gotten a note and a call from a past collector who was ready to turn a piece over.
The collector was the original owner and purchased this piece in 1979 directly from Hill at Friendship IN. The inviting ebony handle melts into your hand. It's a bit weathered, yet almost 35 years old. Cracks are evident. Still, it has the HP hallmarks which make you study it VERY closely. Here's my latest acquisition:
My HP threads are scattered all over the net. I decided to generate this thread to create a singular point of reference and growth for my collection and knowledge. And yours too.
If you have any remembrances and stories, I'd love to hear them. I have more images and info too, which I can add later.
Thanks for viewing.
Coop
