Knife Physical Object


Accession Number
2005.009.0001
Alternate object names
Navaja;Pocket Knife
Creation Date
circa 1600
Description
A small, pivoting steel blade held in a wooden sheath was a folding “pocket” knife. The blade, which was recovered as an epoxy cast from the marine concretion that formed around the original, is 13.2cm long, and 2.9cm at the widest point. The cutting edge has a slightly convex belly, and an examination of the sides shows a hollow grind (meaning the sides of the blade, from the spine to the cutting edge, are somewhat concave). Though the point is not blunt, it is not particularly sharp. These characteristics suggest this knife was designed more for cutting than stabbing or piercing. Two circular depressions are punched into the blade near the spine, and they may be the remains of the manufacturer’s marks. The wood sheath is undecorated and was either broken or rotted over time and is not quite complete. Holes for the hinge pin are barely 2mm in diameter. There is no evidence for a locking mechanism to hold the blade in place when it was opened. Such a tool would serve any number of mundane uses throughout a typical day, such as cutting lines, peeling fruit, and cleaning fingernails.

Dimensions

2.8 cm W x 13.5 cm L , Item (Overall)

13.2cm long, and 2.9cm at the widest point

Exhibition Label
Case Caption (2023): 

Sailing The Ship

A galleon was a complex vessel, requiring expert handling at all levels. Both sailors and officers might develop a specialty, but they had to be able to perform a variety of jobs, as required. It was hard and sometimes dangerous work—a fall from the rigging either onto the deck or into the sea could prove fatal. Rations were poor and shipboard discipline was harsh. However, ordinary sailors were better paid than peasants or laborers, and they often enjoyed a sense of adventure.

Ideally, sailors of every rank went to sea as children and learned their trades by practical experience and apprenticeship. Many youngsters came from seafaring families, following in their elders’ footsteps. Others were running away from their families and eager to start their own lives.
Object Caption (2023):

Pocket Knife
Wood and reconstruction (c.1620)
Gift of Jamestown Inc.
2005.009.0001

This folding knife would have had many uses throughout a sailor’s day, such as cutting lines, peeling fruit, carving wood. It does not have a very sharp point, so was unlikely to have been used as a weapon. Nevertheless, the descriptions of individual sailors aboard the 1622 ships lists many with knife scars—probably from fighting among themselves.