French Ivory Knives?

[waynorth]

Thanks for posting my Schrades, Jake!
I, too, love FI!!
This W.H.Morley has somehow survived since the 1920s without being used, and there is almost no shrinkage in those loooonnnng handles!
Much has been argued about whether these are melon, or sausage testers.
This one is a vote for sausage!!

 

[Jack Black]

A Sausage Tester! Brilliant Charlie! :thumbup:

 

[waynorth]

Pretty compelling, isn't it Jack!?

 

[Jack Black]

Definitely my friend! W H Morley & Sons are one of the Adolph Kastor marks I believe, nice tang stamp :thumbup:

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Some wonderful knives.... The clover leaf tang stamp is pretty cool.

 

[r8shell]

I have one! A gift from Marko. (you know he can't make a trade without throwing an extra prize in the box)



Is French Ivory more stable than other forms of celluloid? Less prone to outgassing? I'm not seeing pictures of it breaking down beyond a bit of shrinkage at the bolsters.

 

[5K Qs]

Very interesting thread! Thanks for starting it, Woodrow. :thumbup::thumbup: Thanks to all who contributed photos and info!

Here's a few more. The artificial 'grain' is clearest in the last 4 photos.
...

...

The striping in this example seems diagonal, rather than horizontal. Is that quite unusual, Jack?

It was widely used. As one example, the "office knives" were commonly French ivory. ...

Thanks for the office knife pics, Jake. I have a Keen Kutter office knife; I'll have to check for the telltale stripes!

- GT

 

[Jack Black]

The striping in this example seems diagonal, rather than horizontal. Is that quite unusual, Jack?

Yes GT, I think it's very unusual. Well spotted :thumbup:

 

[redsparrow]

Never heard much about French Ivory prior to this thread, thanks for starting it Woodrow.
I'm finding it quite interesting (educational) and filled with some beautiful knives such as this one;

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks for the compliment redsparrow, that's an old George Wostenholm Serpentine Jack :thumbup:

 

[5K Qs]

Yes GT, I think it's very unusual. Well spotted :thumbup:

Thanks, Jack.
For a British subject, you sure have a lot of French Ivory!

- GT

 

[Jack Black]

Thanks, Jack.
For a British subject, you sure have a lot of French Ivory!

LOL! Yes, I see a lot of it, when I'd rather turn up the other variety. I must say that this thread has made me look at some of these knives again :thumbup:

 

[Jolipapa]

A Sausage Tester! Brilliant Charlie! :thumbup:

The same pattern exist in Hungary, it is called szalonnazo # lard knife

 

[wlfryjr]

Thanks for posting my Schrades, Jake!
I, too, love FI!!
This W.H.Morley has somehow survived since the 1920s without being used, and there is almost no shrinkage in those loooonnnng handles!
Much has been argued about whether these are melon, or sausage testers.
This one is a vote for sausage!!

He needs a sausage knife for sure. I'm grinning....

By the way here is some Fench ivory from the
Zoo Bassin D'Arcachon:

 

[Woodrow F Call]

Interesting Keen Kutter r8shell!!!

I'm glad everyone is liking the thread. I wonder if GEC might would make some of this in their offerings..... It's kinda like their blue jean or blue corduroy.... I can't remember which they called it.

 

[redsparrow]

Thanks for the compliment redsparrow, that's an old George Wostenholm Serpentine Jack :thumbup:

You're welcome Jack. That really is an exceptionally fine old knife. In fact, if by some slim chance that secondary blade is a lambfoot then it's status would have to raised from exceptional to near perfect. Would it be possible for us to see an open blade view (at you leisure)?

 

[Woodrow F Call]

I'm going to try to get some better pics, but I got this little Boker.

 

[waynorth]

Viewing Jack's diagonal FI knife reminded me that I had this guy stashed away!

I wonder if I posted it in "Elusive Schrades"??

 

[Jack Black]

Nice Boker Jer, good to see this thread pop up again :thumbup:

That is a beauty Charlie, I'm pretty sure I've never seen FI like that, it looks good too :thumbup:

 

[waynorth]

Thanks, Jack! IIRC, A.G.Russel came across a collection of mint "Say It With Flowers" advertising knives and I managed to score 5 or 6 of them.