18th or 19th Century Knife with Bone Handle

[Silver Tree Chaser]

I found this knife today at an old cellar hole dating from the Colonial Period to the 19th century. The knife’s upturned blade indicated that it may have been a skinning knife or hunting knife. I’m not sure if it dates to the 18th or 19th century. Except for the extreme end of the handle perhaps, it’s all there, although the iron is certainly thin and terribly degraded from oxidation. I’ve never found a complete knife from this early a period that also has remains of the bone handle. Any knife experts out there? I’d like to find the knife’s general use & age. Is it worth the all the time & effort to conserve it? I think it would be difficult to treat the composite materials — brittle iron and far more brittle bone.

Thanks & Good Hunting