1907 DONALD BADEN POWELL KNIFE CASE

[4725shane]

 HI ALL  WOULD THIS BE COLLECTABLE 

i score it from a flee market boot sale  .i have given it a soak in neatsfoot oil as it was very dry and cracking  it has DONALD BADEN POWELL .BROWNSEA ISLAND  ORDERLY 1907 ............... HAS A SYMBOL OF THE FRENCH  OR SCOUTS  ITS HOME MADE AND IN NOT THE BEST CONDITION  donald was 8 years old in 1907 and was at the first ever scouts camp .from what i can google ..what would i list it in . i buy lots from ebay and dont sell much

[4725shane]

 THIS IS THE BACK

[siddieswans]

Goodness Shane - where do you find these things?????

Collectables - Historical Memorabilia - Boy Scouts 

I would put a link to one of the articles that mention Donald acting as an orderly - like

https://scouts.org.uk/media/52834/brownsea_island.pdf

The Wikipedia entry says this was the first use of the Scout  fleur-de-lis emblem which would also be worth noting.

Good luck!

[4725shane]

THANKS  MATE ...$1 BOOT SALE LAST WEEKEND .WOLLIES BOOT SALE STANTHORPE ....... do you think its real ..shore looks very old .i thought i was french military ,untill i got home nad worked out who donald was .i new there was a baden powell .but not a donald .. and i hd no idea scouts could have such big knives . but orinialy they were a army type group not a  boy scout ....i love  boot sales .

[siddieswans]

Hello again Shane - frankly it seems an unlikely survival - but as you say it looks authentic, and really why would anyone make up such a thing? I would say it is a scabbard (or sheath) for a sheath knife - apparently one of the early tasks for scouts was "woodcraft" (which I presume meant survival in the wild (woods) as much as working with wood) so a knife like this would be a useful part of kit.

Poole Museum seems to have a section devoted to the original Brownsea Island camp (Brownsea Island being in Poole Harbour) - you could email them with  your pics and ask for an opinion.

http://www.poolemuseum.co.uk/#

If real I think this could potentially be quite valuable - I know from things I have sold in the past that there are some very passionate Scouting collectors out there. I would imagine it would have International appeal. But I would ask for other opinions first - like the Poole Museum - if you do some more Googling you may find other institutions with Brownsea Island collections which they may be happy to add to (through purchase I mean.) I would not get rid of this in a hurry - do some more investigation first.

[4725shane]

 YOU THINK LIKE ME WHO AND WHY WOULD ANYONE MAKE UP SUCH A THING , NO ONE  HAS HEARD OF THIS DONALD BADEN POWELL ..SO NO WONDER IT JUST SAT  AND ROTTED AWAY ... I SHOULD HAVE GRABBED THE OTHER ITEMS THERE WAS A OLD I THINK COW HORN OR GOAT , WITH THE SAME MARKINGS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A HORN.FOR BLOWING.AH WELL .GONE NOW . I WILL SEND THE MUSEUM A EMAIL ..........

[siddieswans]

Hmm, not the kudu horn shown on this page I hope ......

http://www.6thmeadowvalescouts.com/English/worlds-first-scout-camp/

[4725shane]

wow close  just a little shorter maybe a kids size ......... it was in bad condition so i lleft it but i did see a bloke with it latter on leaving the markets ..so someone has the other half ............a well s---t happens

[4725shane]

SIDDIESWANS i got a reply from the museum .....................below  do you want to be my agent.i have no idea i find cool **bleep** and buy cool **bleep** ..but cant sell cool **bleep**

Dear Shane,

Thank you for your enquiry regarding the knife pouch that you have, which has been passed on to me, and for the photos, which were very helpful.

This looks like an interesting item. 1907 was the date of the experimental camp that Robert Baden-Powell organised on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, to try out his ideas for a training programme for young people in Britain following his experiences in the army. Donald Baden-Powell was his nine-year-old nephew, who acted as his uncle’s orderly. The success of the camp spurred Baden-Powell on to finish ‘Scouting for Boys’, published in 1908, which became the handbook for the Scouting movement.

So the knife pouch relates to the start of the Scouting movement and is quite significant. If you were looking for a home for it, we should be very pleased to see it with the possibility of acquiring it from you. The collection of scouting objects at the Museum is on loan to us, and we have very few of our in our own collections; we don’t collect scouting material in general unless it relates specifically to Poole, which this does. If this is case, please let me know how you’d like to proceed

I can’t help wondering how it made its way to Australia and turned up in a boot sale! It was a lucky find and thank for contacting us about it.

[siddieswans]

Shane I would be the worst person to ask  - I am a terrible negotiator.

How about an email like

"I had intended to put this item to auction on eBay, which is how I usually sell things. However I would certainly consider selling to you direct. Please make me an offer."

Maybe there are board members out there who have dealt directly with institutions - I have certainly sold to museums in the past but they have just purchased from eBay.

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. If you were looking for a home for it, we should be very pleased to see it with the possibility of acquiring it from you.

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As the item is in Oz  I am not sure how they intend to "see" it, short of purchasing it from you. Maybe someone else has a better suggestion on how to approach things. Of course I have no idea in the world what it might be worth - that's why I suggest they make you an offer.