Wade and Butcher, Sheffield, England big old hunting knife

robinpeck

robinpeck

Joined
Jul 16, 2001
Messages
326
I picked up this well-maintained Wade and Butcher, Sheffield hunting knife the other day. It's a big heavy knife over a foot long with an approx. 8-inch blade.
The handle is tight and the blade is solid. It came in a worn-out sheath that looks like Crocodile leather to me. The sheath has some writing on it. Someone's name I assume. (see photo)
Can anyone give me an approximate date on this knife and any other info. you might know about it. Thanks.

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I'm no expert but I think that stamp puts it well into the 1900's. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me will come along and pin it down further.



"As popular as the Marble’s line was with outdoorsmen, it was their impact on the rest of the cutlery industry that really made a lasting impression. Starting in 1918, the English cutlery company, Wade and Butcher, began offering pretty much exact copies of Marble’s Ideal pattern. In short order, virtually every major cutlery company in the U.S., England, Germany, and Sweden began offering their own versions of Marble’s most popular knives. "
 
Wade and Butcher "Manitou" or "Pioneer". These were both very close patterns that I don't recall the difference or if was just a name change, Manitou to Pioneer. As mentioned, it was indeed a take on the Marble's ldeal. The Trailblazer was their copy of the Trailmaker, The Trapper was the copy of the Expert. The Guide was a Bowie Style Hunter not Marble's in style, and the Boone and Teddy were somewhat Woodcraft based, Teddy was an early stainless, Boone was carbon.

They were around early 20's - mid 1930's.

Hard to find in the larger sizes, stag buttcap was an extra cost feature.
 
robinpeck said:
I see this picture online but no names (except for the top "Teddy."). My knife looks to be the same as the 2nd largest knife in the picture.

I don't know the older Marbles knife patterns. Are they illustrated somewhere easily accessible online?

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It's like a Rorschach thing...

I see 'Stan Sewel'

Then, 'Ecce'...then perhaps a year.

'Ecce' is Latin for 'Behold...'

On the sheath.
 
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Also, does anyone have a source for a new (or at least newer) sheath that would fit this knife?
 
KA-BAR sheaths are plentiful and inexpensive but the blade on yours is too long. Maybe a Buck 120 sheath?

That knife deserves a custom sheath made for it.
 
The older sheath and older fuller style make me think Manitou, but the Pioneer was a essentially a newer style Manitou, much like the Ideal changed a bit -

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Pioneer stamp. W and B usually stamped in the fuller or just below it, but sometimes they left it blank or put a store brand in that space.

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Newer style Pioneer sheath.

I agree, a Ka-Bar sheath might work, and wouldn't be too off, older pouch styles are strictly a custom job now.

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Ad for the WB line, mid 1920's. Sometimes they were close 30% more than US products.

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The Trail Blazer -

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The very rare Trail Maker copy / competitor, photo from Quintessential Cutlery.
 
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Okay, thanks for all the great information. So it's the Wade and Butcher big 8-inch "Manitou" model.

Would the stag pommel cap be an option or just an earlier version than the one with the aluminum cap?

Also, do you think the worn-out sheath is an original W+B sheath?

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garry3 said:
I'm no expert but I think that stamp puts it well into the 1900's. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me will come along and pin it down further.



"As popular as the Marble’s line was with outdoorsmen, it was their impact on the rest of the cutlery industry that really made a lasting impression. Starting in 1918, the English cutlery company, Wade and Butcher, began offering pretty much exact copies of Marble’s Ideal pattern. In short order, virtually every major cutlery company in the U.S., England, Germany, and Sweden began offering their own versions of Marble’s most popular knives. "
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garry3. Thanks for posting that link to the article on the Marbles knives! John
 
robinpeck said:
Okay, thanks for all the great information. So it's the Wade and Butcher big 8-inch "Manitou" model.

Would the stag pommel cap be an option or just an earlier version than the one with the aluminum cap?

Also, do you think the worn-out sheath is an original W+B sheath?

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Yes, I think the pouch style sheath is original. Even when these were new, that pouch style sheath was kinda old fashioned. Even back before WWI, the ads I've seen for replacement sheathes for almost all brands were of the more common flat type. I can't prove this, but I think the stag butt was just an added cost option, much like Marble's offered. I've seen enough stag butted later Pioneers, and a few stag butted Manitou s, that it seems the case.

If I had to guess, a stag butt would've maybe added .75 - $1.00 on to the cost of an already expensive knife, so that's why you see more aluminum butts cataloged and sold.

I've never seen any full stag WB knives of the Marble's style, but IXL / G Wostenholm sold their versions in stag/stag butt, leather/stag butt around the same time.
 
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1920-1927, or so.

I know the catalog page I posted was from 1925/26. I just checked some old ads I had saved, and here's one from Forest and Stream Magazine in 1927 -


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So the name changes seem to have happened right around 1927. The s heath change happens around then too.
 
Horsewright said:
Why do you think the sheath is crocodile leather?
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A pattern is still visible on the back of the sheath. It doesn't show up well in the photos. It looks like a crocodile leather pattern to me. Crocodile leather ( made taken from the bottom area of young animals) was once used for all sorts of leather goods. It may or may not be...
 
Gotcha. The abraded parts of the sheath in your close up pic as well as the tip, where we can see past the surface dye and patina suggest veg tan cowhide to me. But just a guess though….
 
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