Chinese Fisherman's Knife

Rusty dolphin, mid-leap, with a curled tail and a tiny round eye.

This fisherman's knife is from Dongbei or Shan Xi Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. It is iron, wood & horn. Knives of iron with wooden or horn handles were everyday tools in rural northern China, where they were used for cutting line, cleaning fish and general work. Flat, curved form in mottled grey-brown with orange rust spots and a small eye mark near the front. A tall hook curls from the back end, and a short beak points left. It is 5.5 inches wide and 1.5 deep.

Rusty, fishy and strangely cheerful about the whole business.