2015 Fundraising Auction

The 2015 Contemporary Longrifle Foundation Fund Raising Auction will take place on Friday, August 14th, at 5:00 PM in Lexington Kentucky. Grand Ball Room – Lexington Convention Center, 400 West Vine Street, Lexington, Kentucky.

Those who cannot attend Friday can take advantage of the absentee biding process.

We are excited to feature works by the following artists:

Heinz Ahlers, T.C. Albert, Steve Auvenshine, Paul Bigham, Gary Corum, Josh Crain, Tim Crosby, Jerry Eitnier, Matthew Fennewald, Alec Fourman,
Dan Fruth, Tom Greco, Sandy Greco, Steve Helfrich, Benjamin Hoffman, Hershel House, John House, Glen Mock, Scott Morrison, Bill Pritchard,
Joe Seabolt, Don Shaver, Steve Skillman, Bill Smith, Scott Summerville, Glenn Sutt, Djuana Tucker, Steve Vance, John Weeks, Bill Wright

Thanks to these artists for their generous donations.
Remember them when you need something you can’t live without.

Mississippi-Style Knife by Gary Corum

by Heinz Ahlers and Gary Corum Gary Corum has created a late 18th to early 19th century knife in the lower Mississippi River Valley style. The knife is 12 inches overall with a 7-inch blade. The blade is hand forged 1095 steel, a high performance knife steel with excellent edge holding properties. This entire knife [...]

Knife by Paul Bigham with Sheath by Steve Helfrich

by Heinz Ahlers Paul Bigham has created this handsome knife.The dark finished blade, one piece curly maple handle and dark finished grip cap make a knife with a great deal of style. Paul hand forged this knife and from 1084 steel and it features a full length tang with a riveted steel grip cap and [...]

Hunting Pouch by William Smith

By Heinz Ahlers The hunting pouch and horn are symbols of the American frontier. By the early 19th century you could tell a lot about a man by his pouch and horn, pouches showed distinct regional variations, wide ranges in quality from home made to finest cordwainers work, and variations in size and shape based [...]

Turned Handle Knife & Sheath by Benjamin Hoffman

by Heinz Ahlers The CLF is proud to be able to offer at auction this finely crafted traditional belt knife donated by Benjamin Hoffman. This is a re-creation of the kind of hand crafted knife made by an accomplished frontier smith who was proud of his work and touch marked it. All of the work [...]

Native American Ladle by Donald Shaver

by Heinz Ahlers Donald Shaver is donating a ladle inspired by an original 18th century piece. Don made this treenware ladle of Mulberry he harvested himself and dried for 2 years. He finished the ladle with bear grease bringing out the natural color of the mulberry.. The ladle has 4 sterling silver inlays. The two [...]

Push Dagger & Sheath by Joshua Crain

by Heinz Ahlers Joshua Crain has recreated one of those icons of the Mississippi River culture, the push dagger. This style was popular in New Orleans during the 1800s where it was known as a gimlet knife. One was involved in the Wilson - Anthony fight between elected officials in the Arkansas State Legislature in [...]

Woodbury Longhunter Knife & Sheath by Hershel House, John House, & Joe Seabolt

by Heinz Ahlers The knife is a special piece of equipment; knives can be cooking tools or butchering tools, wood carvers or weapons. For a longhunter, the knife was expected to be all the-se things. This put a lot of demands on the knife, it had to be tough enough to split out a deer [...]

Desperate Times Bag & Horn Set by TC Albert & Tim Crosby

by Heinz Ahlers It's desperate measures for desperate times, or so the saying goes, and hard times can turn desperate in a flash. A cat-a-mount "painter", a rogue old black bear, or even a cunning red fox preying on the livestock could set a mountain family back in no time, and the predator would have [...]

Cutlery Set in Quilled Pouch by Glen Mock & Bill Wright

by Heinz Ahlers Glen Mock is noted for his outstanding knife making and has previously donated to the CLF Auction. We are specially indebted to our multiple year donors. This year Bill Wright teamed up with Glen and pushed him a bit outside of his comfort zone. As a result of this collaboration the CLF [...]

Quilled Pouch by Djuana Tucker

by Heinz Ahlers The CLF Fundraising auction is proud to present this mid-18th century Eastern Woodland/Great Lakes style quilled bag by Djuana Tucker. Djuana has over 10 years experience in quillwork and credits Bruce Horne and Chuck Edwards with getting her started in this dimension of living history. Djuana can be seen at living history [...]

Fraktur Artwork by Sandy Greco

by Heinz Ahlers The CLF is proud to present for auction this 11 X 14 Fraktur style colored drawing. Fraktur is an art form introduced in America by the Pennsylvania Germans with some of the earliest work being done by the Ephrata Cloister in Lancaster County. The term Fraktur can describe a form of calligraphy, [...]

Mesquite Handled Dagger by Steve Auvenshine

by Heinz Ahlers Steve Auvenshine has generously donated this fine boot knife to the 2015 CLF Fundraising Auction. This beautiful knife, 9 inches overall, showcases Steves well-known talents as a knife maker. The knife has a dagger shaped single edged blade with a period correct crocus finish. It features silver mounts, including the silver overlays [...]

Otter Pouch & Buffalo Horn Set by Matthew Fennewald & Alec Fourman

Matthew Fennewald and Alec Fourman have combined their efforts to produce this outstanding historically correct otter pouch and buffalo horn set for the 2015 CLF Fundraising Auction. You may remember Matt's hand crafted bow commemorating Choctaw Chief Pushmataha. It sold very well in the 2013 auction. Matt and Alec are both stickers for thorough research [...]

Early Virginia Rifle by Dan Fruth

by Heinz Ahlers Dan Fruth is donating a pre Revolutionary War styled rifle. Dan handled the original he based this rifle on and took the measurements used. This is a Valley of Virginia styled gun, perhaps from Augusta County. The barrel, by Ed Rayle, was copied from dimensions taken from the original. It is 43" [...]

The Charles Parkingham Hooper Adams Hunting Bag by John Weeks

by Jack Weeks Through genealogy research, we found that my fifth great grandfather, Charles Adams 1745-1780, a farmer in northwest North Carolina, was a member of the North Carolina Rangers. He fought in Revolutionary War battles in the southern theater from 1776 until his death in 1780. He served with General Griffith Rutherford during the [...]

Early Longhunter Knife & Sheath by Heinz Ahlers & Joe Seabolt

by Heinz Ahlers The classic knife of the early American frontier, the single edged longhunters knife, was the working tool of the rifleman. Although these knives were often made from imported butcher knives, the longhunter frequently sought out the products of the skilled frontier smith for a knife that was a bit stouter and had [...]

Tansel Horn by Scott Morrison, Steve Skillman, Glenn Sutt, & Steve Vance

by Heinz Ahlers The 2015 CLF Fundraising Auction is proud to present this beautiful Tansel styled horn. This horn was created by Steve Vance, Glenn Sutt, Scott Morrison, and Steve Skillman, all from the Northwest Horn Makers group. The horn has many of the features of Tansel family horns from the Indiana period. The Tansel [...]

Pouch, Horn, & Belt Pouch Set by Tom Greco

by Heinz Ahlers Tom Greco has donated a fine pouch and horn set with a matching belt pouch. The bag style is typical of Eastern Pennsylvania and is paired with a southern style horn suggesting an owner who moved down the Great Wagon Road as the frontier spread westward. Oil tanned buffalo hide is used [...]

Rifle by Bill Pritchard

by Heinz Ahlers Bill Pritchard has been building rifles in Maysville since 1976, when he was motivated by the activities of the Bicentennial to try his hand at building flintlock longrifles. Bill was largely self taught, guided by Kindig, Thoughts on the Kentucky in Its Golden Age; Shumway, Rifles of Colonial America; and Recreating the [...]