Mid-Eighteenth-Century Folding Knife by Scott Summerville

In early America, the humble pocketknife could be found from the drawing rooms of Tidewater estates to the farthest reaches of the frontier. George Washington is known to have owned a number of folding knives, and famed explorer Meriwether Lewis famously carried a pen knife all the way the Pacific Ocean and back.

For the 2022 CLF Live Fundraising Auction, perennial auction supporter Scott Summerville has donated another stellar example of a colonial folding knife which is sure to garner competitive bidding at the live event.

Summerville describes the knife as a mid-eighteenth-century folder with a locking blade. “The locking mechanism,” explains the artist, “is a flat spring that is attached so it lays along the knife’s back. The spring has a square hole that snaps over a lug on the blade when open. To close you just push the spring up and close the blade.”

This fully functional gentleman’s knife is also a handsome work of art. The handle’s graceful shape is found on a number of original knives, and sports steel liners and beautifully patterned ash burl scales.

For more information on the work of Scott Summerville, contact the artist directly: summerville1757@yahoo.com

Text by Joshua Shepherd
Photography by David Wright