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Old 08-10-2013, 08:55 AM
Rick Bowles Rick Bowles is offline
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Unique Randall 50th. Commemorative

This knife was sent to me last week for consignment. The seller set the price for it and I sold it the following day. Here is a little history.

The 50th. Anniversary Commemorative is, without a doubt, the most famous and collectable Randall Made knife of the last quarter century. This particular 50th. knife is the highest grade of the entire run of 300 and it has a unique history with iron-clad provenance.

As some of you may know I scrimshawed a bust of Bo Randall on 14 of the 50th. Anniversary knives before Bo passed in 1989. In memoriam I stopped offering that image on these knives after Bo passed on Christmas day 1989. with one exception. Shortly after Bo's funeral Gary asked me, as a personal favor, to scrimshaw Father Bob's Commemorative knife. "Father Bob" Maurias, a good friend of the Randall family, was the minister who presided over Bo's funeral service and later the funeral of Bo's wife Ruth. This was the very last time I scrimshawed Bo's image on a 50th. Commemorative.

Tom Leschorn engraved only a very few 50th. Anniversary Commemoratives before he passed in 1992. Of these less than a half dozen, that I know of, carry both Tom's work and mine.

Though the knife had been sold one thing bothered me. Clearly this Commemorative, serial #105, was done after Bo passed as evidenced by Tom's engraved memorial plate inlayed in the crown and the date of October 1990. Since I didn't scrimshaw Anniversary knives after Christmas day 1989, except one, there was a strong possibility that #105 was the Commemorative that belonged to Father Bob. I got some help from a friend who searched the RKS newsletters. Page 4 of issue 85 from February 2010 confirmed that 50th. Anniversary Commemorative #105 did indeed belong to Father Bob Maurias. It was subsequently purchased by Rhett Stidham, the late founder of the only legitimate Randall Knife Society and later sold to the consigner. The embellishments and irrefutable history makes this Randall Commemorative one of the best of the best.




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Old 08-11-2013, 08:13 PM
lunde lunde is offline
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That's a whole lot of history in a knife. Thank you for sharing the photos and the associated history.
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Old 08-12-2013, 09:36 AM
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Jacknola Jacknola is offline
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An excellent historical narrative, well researched and presented, of a unique and interesting knife. This is a model-3? I like the blade, which I presume harks back to the first Randalls prior to the introduction of the #1.

Thanks for the history lesson and for showing this great blade. The documentation of the provenance of the knife, the scrim, and engraving surely puts this knife in a special catagory.
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Old 08-13-2013, 08:42 AM
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Moosehead Moosehead is offline
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Hi folks!

Firstly, WOW! That is really a spectacular and unique 50th Commemorative knife! It's really beautiful and wonderfully embellished by two legendary artists. (Yup Rick, you already are one.)

To answer Jack's question about whether it's a Model #3, the answer is no. This blade (7 1/2 inches long) is really a uniquely designed "Bowie" forged solely to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Randall made Knives in 1988. The crown stag handles and special spacer arrangement was also limited to just the three hundred knives.

There's lots more information about these great knives in Bob Gaddis' ""Randall Made Knives", pp. 253-57.

Now I only wish I had me one...

Cheers!

David


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Last edited by Moosehead; 08-13-2013 at 08:49 AM.
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