I enlarged and copied your photo and rotated it to see the cat better. I'm almost sure that it's a Snow Leopard, and it's quite well done.
In the absence of the artist's name, you might look through older knife magazines in hopes of recognizing the name.
If Rick Bowles sees this, he may know the artist. Can you change your post title to reflect that you have a scrimshaw question? Like, "Who Did This Scrimshaw?" That might get his attention. Your present title doesn't address the real issue. Anyone can see that you have an Al Mar knife. The unique issue is the art.
If in fact the older lady did do this scrim, I can assure you that it wasn't Linda. She would NOT have been mistaken for an old lady then or even considerably later! With respect to her and her current husband, I believe that you'd remember her. I have framed color photos of some of her work. It is outstanding by any standard.
I presume that the scales are the usual ivory Micarta, not actual ivory. That would add other issues, some legal.
I wish you luck. The knife may be quite valuable. As-is, unless you really need money, I'd keep it on my desk as an item of art and a letter opener. Don't carry it: the scrim will wear off.
Gerber used to sell knives made in Seki City with machine-done scrim. I have one. They're very nice. They were part of their Silver Knight line.
Seki City is a specialist cutlery zone in Japan, known for very high quality materials and workmanship. The famous Fallkniven knives are designed in Sweden, but made to their specs in Seki City, I believe. Quality is superb, perhaps the best of any current factory made knives.
Of the Al Mar line, their Eagle and Falcon models impress me the most. They are very good knives.
But, as I said, the value of your knife is in the art. Otherwise, you just have a used factory knife in an odd design.
