So I have been helping a friend sell a few guns the past few months and have sold a few.
I went the other day to get a check from him for a Parker shotgun, I had sold and asked if he had anything else
for me to sell. He said ya give me a second, so he comes back out of the back of the shop and hands me a
Perizza shotgun to sell and a couple of knifes. Well I take the knives in hand and look them over and said ok.
Well I bring them home and start the process of looking them up, one was a 19th century or older Bowie
knife with a 13" blade , large enough to cut down a small tree........ The other was a very nice 19Th century
English made knife with a brass or gold name tag on it that simply said " F. Metaxa R.N."
So I typed in the search engine and didn't get any hits, but after a while I found the maker and
went from there turned out the knife maker was a very rare but famous English gun maker for the
1860-1880's circa. So knowing that I thought I would list the knife for sale and see what shook out so to speak.
Well the knife was on gunsinternational for a hour or less and I get a email from a man and he proceeded to tell me who owned this knife.
turns out this knife belonged to a count, yes a Count and so with name in hand here is what I found out.....
J. Beattie & Son custom handmade knife made for Admiral Count Fredrick Cosmeto Metaxa ,here is some of the history I have found on the maker , and the count
Robert Gardner's "Small Arms Makers" lists James Beattie as working at 205 Regent Street, London, England from 1849 to 1879. He exhibited rifles, double guns, and dueling pistols at London [Exhibition] in 1851. A son was admitted to the firm in 1865 and the name was changed then to J. Beattie & Son.The named changed again in 1879, making this knife at least 133 yrs old, or older. This is a very RARE knife by a very rare fine English gunmaker of the 19th century.
This knife was made for Admiral Count Fredrick Cosmeto Metaxa ,
Admiral Count Frederick Cosmeto Metaxa, Royal Navy, Retired (7 March, 1847 – 2 March, 1910) was an officer of the Royal Navy. Metaxa entered the Royal Navy in 1860 and was was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant with seniority of 1 June, 1869. He had a brief incursion during the Russo-Turkish War in 1877-78 (about the time the knife was made)and the Bombardment of Alexandria in 1882 and was promoted to the rank of Comander on 30 June, 1882. Metaxa was promoted to the rank of Captain on 1 January, 1888. He was appointed in command of the HMS Calypso on 1 November, 1888.
Metaxa spent his next ten years in command of cruisers one which was HMS Galatea on the 30th April 1897 on training squadrons before, finally, being appointed as Flag Captain to Vice Admiral Sir Compton Domvile KCB on the Battleship HMS Alexandra in 1898.
He was reappointed a Naval Aide-de-Camp, to King Edward VII, on 25 February, 1901. He was promoted to the rank of Rear-Admiral on 16 June, Metaxa was then promoted to the rank of Vice-Admiral on 1 August, 1905 . In accordance with the provisions of the Order in the Council of 8 December ,1903 he was placed on the Retired List, at his own request, on 12 September, 1905. He was advanced to the rank of Admiral on the Retired List on 2 January, 1909.
But after all that I got to thinking how in the world this knife ended up in Texas 133 yrs after it was made, if it could only talk and tell us .....
I talkd with my firend and asked if he remebered where it had came form and he couldn't other than it had just came into the shop in a pile
of other junk that someone had pawned. But to say it was found and discovered is a grand thing for a history buff like myself, I have always seen and was told about stories from people finding treasures but to be part of finding some even in my small role of this knifes history just made my day.
thanks for the indulgence had to tell someone the story hope you enjoyed it and hope you find a lost piece of history treasure someday.
Thanks Pack
heres the Count as a young cadet
