Australia’s ancient landscape gets set in steel.

Inspiration is as varied as the knives born from it. Tony Docherty’s muse is the primeval topography of his parched native land.

“I’ve flown above ancient rivers in dry landscapes while crossing from the west coast to the east of Australia,” said the smith, based in the state of Western Australia. “Looking down, I’m always fascinated by the rivers that no longer flow, snaking through our sunburnt country. This has inspired my River Series.”

The intriguing and cascading mosaic pattern defines his River Series chef’s knife, with an undulating layer meandering across the centerline of the 7.28-inch blade. An interesting touch, the reminder of each pattern of the mosaic seems to imply geographical features, be they peaks, tributaries or even, perhaps, contour lines.

Mosaic damascus is challenging, regardless of the pattern. The difficulty increases when symmetry and continuity are essential to the design. For Docherty, keeping the river flowing across the 1084/15N20 blade was among the greatest tasks in making this chef’s knife and other pieces in his River Series. He freely admits that serendipity plays a role in pulling off the pattern. “When squaring up and then putting it on a 45-degree bias, it’s about getting it spot on and hoping for the best, as the chance of distortion is high,” he wrote.

Docherty began his craftsmanship journey as a woodworker and still produces original pieces. Given this, the handle of the chef’s knife received its due in design and material. He offset the brass inlays in the wood to reflect the pattern on the blade. And for the project, nothing but ringed gidgee would do for the handle proper and maintaining the desert motif of the knife.

“Desert woods in Australia are amazing and ringed gidgee is some of the best,” the maker relates. “It grows in the country you see in those ancient riverbeds. I felt it a fitting matchup.”

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