Jimmy Lile Button Lock Folding Knife with Staghorn Grips, No Dot Mark, and Engraved Patent Mark

3" blade length. 8.25" overall with hilt. Straight single edge drop point blade with nickel plated bolsters, horn grip scales, and a lanyard loop to the pommel. The right side of the button lock is hand engraved U. S./Patent No/4148140, and the right ricasso is struck 035, making this an early example of James Lile's folding knives. Bolsters are retained with two pins along the backstrap. Interior of the backstrap struck with date marking 83, indicating it was made in 1983.

A full time knifemaker from 1971, James "Jimmy" Lile continued to produce handmade knives until his death in 1991. The company now bearing his name continues to offer a wide variety of knives following Lile's original patterns. The best known of these being the enormous clip-point serrated bowie knives that Lile produced for the movie "Rambo: First Blood", starring Sylvester Stallone. In the case of this lot, the signature to the left ricasso indicates that it was made during Lile's lifetime. An attractive example of a unique pattern of folding knife made by one of America's most well known and respected contemporary knifemakers.

From the Collection of Jeffrey W. Sanner

This lot is located in Cincinnati.