Manufactured by Tillotson of Sheffield, England c. 1850s. Thomas Tillotson operated from the Columbia Place address in Sheffield from 1852 to 1860, with other similar examples to this "gold hunter's knife" pictured in multiple books. A couple of these examples are pictured on p. 233 of "The Antique Bowie Knife Book" by Adams, Voyles, and Moss and on p. 102 of "The Bowie Knife: Unsheathing an American Legend" by Flayderman. The overall length is 14 3/4 inches with a 10 3/8 inch clip point blade that is faintly etched on the left with "Gold Hunters Knife/E.PLURIBUS UNUM/PALO ALTO," along with a patriotic eagle, stand of arms, and floral motifs. The knife is an obvious attempt by a Sheffield knife maker to dip into a larger portion of the American market, targeting both gold hunters and Mexican-American War veterans. The grip has pearl scales, S-shaped German silver guard, and the German silver hilt featuring a high relief reclining lion. Includes a lightly tooled leather sheath with German silver fittings. The grip escutcheon on the left side of this knife is inscribed "John Teague". Though this knife can't be directly linked to a specific person, the 1850 U.S. census lists a John Teague in the gold fields of California as a miner near Granite Creek in El Dorado County. Teague was not found in any other census records in the area, however, an article from 17 February 1864 in "The Marysville Appeal" mentions a John Teague as one of six men killed by Native Americans near the forks of the Salmon River in Siskiyou County. If this is the same John Teague, it would place him a bit farther north in California than the 1850 census stated when he was killed. Provenance: The Greg Lampe Collection

Fine, the blade showing mostly bright with a few scattered patches of light pitting and the etching faint but mostly legible. The German silver shows an attractive, mostly bright patina. The grips are very fine with a small chip absent from the left panel. The sheath is very fine with moderate wear. An attractive and rare Sheffield Bowie knife that is potentially linked to the California gold rush!