Handsome German Knife  

Ah, yes. The blackjack. Those were shot-filled rubber, I believe, which opens a whole new area of collecting...

Weapons as artifacts of design genius. I guess it's as valid an expression of human nature as are the furnishings and decorative arts typically found here, but the topic adds a much darker element to the discussion, don't you think, niceguy? I'm not sure our gracious hosts would encourage the topic, though I may be wrong.
That said, I've handled many weapons in my museum career. Some very beautiful, rare, and important. There are a lot of collections of this type sitting in storage these days. Depending on the venue, martial artifacts can be a tough sell in today's family-friendly museum exhibitions. There remains, though, a healthy and competitive private market, I gather.

The "edged weapons" I posted initially were an attempt to display these items in a more "formal" design setting (ie Randall Astro @ MoMA). The inexpensive and poorly fabricated "Saturday Night Special" stiletto's and switchblade's appeared to be a questionable inclusion. The thread degraded to clubs...
I believe the inclusion of the Marc Newson 486 for Beretta in design forum is relevant.
I am grateful we are not discussing ecclesiastical design collectibles... St Matthews Church Lalique cross.

I have an old saying…
"Meaning is beauty".
And I guess meaning can be ugly too.
What makes meaning for you personally?
Form?
Content?
Or a perfect fusion of the two?
Must the dark function of a gun or bomber be embraced in spirit to fully enjoy the formal aspects?
Or is it okay to simply overlook the fact that it is made for killing?
Or are we supposed to get off on the perverse contrast of a beautiful killing machine?
I guess thats up to you.
I can see and appreciate the form of a gun.
But so what?
.
PS That is no billy club.

Knives, firearms and some sticks are all a part of the design world for better or worse. Defining the a single function changes nothing.

Huh? I thought I was quite clear.
What do "millions of law abiding citizens" have to do with what I was talking about?
Mine was a form vs content question. Pretty simple really.
(If the gun's design and manufacture was clearly never intended for killing, then I agree that there is no issue, but to say the look of a gun designed for killing is a totally separate issue from its use, is BS, in my humble opinion.)
And I do mean just my opinion. You are welcome to yours.
Dark thoughts are never meaningless.

Eameshead,
The idea of "ugly" was examined in the "Twilight Zone" episode "Eye of the Beholder". Unfortunate Donna Douglas.
Tool or design object. Some individuals who experience the many uses of an Emeco Navy chair may feel this is not a subjective question.
Your opinion is noted and accepted.

Hey, check out this eye gouger
I mean ice cream scoop!
It's a classic

it has antifreeze or something in it, it works really well

The Philippe Starck Bedside Gun table lamp for Flos remains on topic.

an art object I treasure dearly

As Tktoo guessed, we are absolutely not interested in discussions about objects designed to kill. Discuss about knives for cutting a sausage into slices as much as you like. But no weapons!
Thank you
P&A

(dance break)

I like the black rectangle. So perfect. So clean.
Is it a deep space? Or an absolute void? Or a confrontational black plank?
Now THAT'S my kind of "dark thought" Objectworship.
I think its the most powerful image I have seen posted on design addict this year.
EDIT: Damn, its the next day and after I did my whole spiel, NOW you have some guy invading the perfection of the black rectangle. Well, I should have known…. "Dance Break". Sheesh

tktoo,
This thread appears to has deviated from design knives to sticks.
The persuasive level of a stick is low. The wrong type of individual in procession of a stick is a different story.
In "my collecting world" the Colt Target Python is the perfect companion to the Randall Model 18 Attack-Survival knife. Both exhibit great design and a high degree of manufacturing precision.