"Made in Sheffield" 1830-1930, A golden age ?

Old Engineer said:
The Top Lambfoot in the top photo is either lost or given away to a nephew however I did find another one and included it with the photos that I took today . It is not a good day to take pictures today though .

Arranged in what I believe would be Oldest to Youngest
Handle Material from the Top Down
BONE /// BONE /// GUM FUDDY /// MOP /// OXHORN /// RAMS HORN /// RAMS HORN
Blade Material = Top 3 are Carbon and the others are Stainless



Jack Black Jack Black : I forgot to mention how much I like that Old TEW Pruner .:)
:):):thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Harry
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I think we can get in the ball park, but it is a pretty good sized ball park. :)
Taylor was using the "Eye" logo and wording lengthwise on some of their models in 1897, but not on the lamb foot models. It appears that they stopped using that lengthwise stamp on blades prior to WWII, and used blade etches for a short time. No lengthwise blade markings are seen after 1956. In a catalog dated to c. 1928, all of the lamb foot models have the "Eye" stamp and wording lengthwise on the blades. That same catalog shows some models with a straight line "Taylor Sheffield" blade tang stamp, some with and some without the addition of an "Eye" stamp. I can't find any reference material that shows a curved "Taylor" tang stamp as shown on one or two of your knives. With other cutlery companies, generally (but not always) curved stamps came before straight line stamps. I would guess that your curved stamp model are your oldest dating to around the early 1920s or a little earlier, but I am just speculating. I would think that the bone handled straight line stamp model dates to the later 1920s to mid 1930s, and the the model with the black synthetic handles dates to early post WWII. It looks like a light etch as opposed to a stamp on the black synthetic model. The other models are certainly much later, but do have roots in similar Taylor models dating well before WWII.
 
herder said:
I think we can get in the ball park, but it is a pretty good sized ball park. :)
Taylor was using the "Eye" logo and wording lengthwise on some of their models in 1897, but not on the lamb foot models. It appears that they stopped using that lengthwise stamp on blades prior to WWII, and used blade etches for a short time. No lengthwise blade markings are seen after 1956. In a catalog dated to c. 1928, all of the lamb foot models have the "Eye" stamp and wording lengthwise on the blades. That same catalog shows some models with a straight line "Taylor Sheffield" blade tang stamp, some with and some without the addition of an "Eye" stamp. I can't find any reference material that shows a curved "Taylor" tang stamp as shown on one or two of your knives. With other cutlery companies, generally (but not always) curved stamps came before straight line stamps. I would guess that your curved stamp model are your oldest dating to around the early 1920s or a little earlier, but I am just speculating. I would think that the bone handled straight line stamp model dates to the later 1920s to mid 1930s, and the the model with the black synthetic handles dates to early post WWII. It looks like a light etch as opposed to a stamp on the black synthetic model. The other models are certainly much later, but do have roots in similar Taylor models dating well before WWII.
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Thanks for the information . That is by far the most that I have ever seen on Stamping dating for TEW .

Harry
 
herder said:
I think we can get in the ball park, but it is a pretty good sized ball park. :)
Taylor was using the "Eye" logo and wording lengthwise on some of their models in 1897, but not on the lamb foot models. It appears that they stopped using that lengthwise stamp on blades prior to WWII, and used blade etches for a short time. No lengthwise blade markings are seen after 1956. In a catalog dated to c. 1928, all of the lamb foot models have the "Eye" stamp and wording lengthwise on the blades. That same catalog shows some models with a straight line "Taylor Sheffield" blade tang stamp, some with and some without the addition of an "Eye" stamp. I can't find any reference material that shows a curved "Taylor" tang stamp as shown on one or two of your knives. With other cutlery companies, generally (but not always) curved stamps came before straight line stamps. I would guess that your curved stamp model are your oldest dating to around the early 1920s or a little earlier, but I am just speculating. I would think that the bone handled straight line stamp model dates to the later 1920s to mid 1930s, and the the model with the black synthetic handles dates to early post WWII. It looks like a light etch as opposed to a stamp on the black synthetic model. The other models are certainly much later, but do have roots in similar Taylor models dating well before WWII.
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Very informative, thank you.
Here's another one with a curved stamp:
HRMjgeb.jpg
 
Thanks Old Engineer and r8shell.
r8shell, you are tormenting me with another curved Taylor stamp. :)
I found a bit more evidence of the straight line Taylor blade tang stamp used on late 1920s era knives.
So I am slowing convincing myself that the curved Taylor stamps were used around the WWI era.
 
Really Interesting information Herder.
I picked up this very rough old Thing- only because of the Sheer Size in comparison to other Lambfoots - this blade d=being worn down might fool one that it is more of a Sheepsfoot.
The Tang Shoulder has been taken down by sharpening, but what remains is the lower half of a largely Stamped Eye big with only "WITNESS" in the Older type of Font.
Another thing that stands out is the Blade Stamp with only TAYLOR ( deeply stamped ).
This is a Monster of a Knife, I didn't want to put it in this Thread as this most certainly does not stand up to the Golden era of Sheffield knives that Mick intended this Thread to be, this is simply a brutish work horse - or was.

rkWq1cj.jpg


l5nkZQE.jpg
 
herder said:
19th century Sheffield was certainly known for the best of the best knives available. And that range covered all types of cutlery from Bowie knives to pocket knives. Another type of cutlery that the cutlers of Sheffield excelled at were those relating to any form of horticulture. The majority of old Sheffield cutlery catalogs often featured several pages of pruning and budding knives. A great many sizes and shapes were available for every possible gardening need.
Enclosed is a classic late 1800s pruner type from "Harrison Brothers & Howson". Tweedale's book provides a nice history of that company which was one of the largest cutlery companies in Sheffield in the mid to late 19th century. Tweedale mentions that Harrison Brothers & Howson were recipients of two Royal Warrants, but they were actually issued three. They were only topped by Joseph Rodgers in the length of Royal Warrants offered over a long period of time. This model is marked "Harrison Brothers & Howson" over "Cutlers to Her Majesty" (Queen Victoria) which places it in the time frame of 1837 to 1901. I would suspect this fine old model dates to around the 1880s. While the Germans offered some wonderful stag on many older knives, Sheffield was well known for its absolute and continuous use of high grade stag on the majority of their knives. This model happens to have a very nice matched set of fine English stag handles, and the overall condition is quite remarkable for a knife that is around 150 years old.
View attachment 1488831
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Thats a real beauty Herder, reminds me of this old Girl here as well, Bolsters also integral also Slanted fitting to the Stag, Very Nice Stag and Nicely Stamped.

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Campbellclanman said:
Really Interesting information Herder.
I picked up this very rough old Thing- only because of the Sheer Size in comparison to other Lambfoots - this blade d=being worn down might fool one that it is more of a Sheepsfoot.
The Tang Shoulder has been taken down by sharpening, but what remains is the lower half of a largely Stamped Eye big with only "WITNESS" in the Older type of Font.
Another thing that stands out is the Blade Stamp with only TAYLOR ( deeply stamped ).
This is a Monster of a Knife, I didn't want to put it in this Thread as this most certainly does not stand up to the Golden era of Sheffield knives that Mick intended this Thread to be, this is simply a brutish work horse - or was.

rkWq1cj.jpg


l5nkZQE.jpg
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First time that I have seen that stamp Duncan . Does that get back into the Integral Bolsters time frame ??? I would sure like to see some pictures of the complete old TEW .

Harry
 
Hi Harry my friend, I hope you are doing extremely well.

Sir- yes - this Pruner definitely is in the Integral Bolster Family, so you can very safely say late 1800's to very early 1900's at a guess, depending also on just how many Integral Liner/Bolstered frames were left and how long they went on using them all up- but I think we can safely say that in that time period I doubt that excess stocks of Integral Liner / Bolster frames were made to last years on end, Raw materials such as Horn, Ivory and such would have been stock-piled as we know were which of course is completely different.

The Big Old TEW is a bit of a Dog - some Fool decided to "Clean the Knife and get into the Cam of the Blade and everything with a grinding device! which effected the Walk and Talk Greatly I think the Knife may have been apart, but the Knife as you see it is as it would have been when made - but obviously in poor condition now, I nearly did not buy it for the pennies I paid, but its hard to go past an older TEW Stamp as you know, and the Blade Stamp with Taylor by itself, and the Sheer size of it I thought might display in the right place- somewhere, sometime.
Photos' as requested Harry matey - please note that I feel a bit ashamed adding this Knife into the Fine Thread of High End Knives this Thread first intended to show......

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I understand where you are coming from on the " Fine Thread of High End Knives " my friend , but I do not see it being that type of thread . I assumed it was for knives made back in the Golden Years of Sheffield . I am just seeing a lot of Verbage with not a lot of Photos of knives made during that time frame . I still have a lot to learn about knives made back then and not a lot of time left to learn it . But I do very much enjoy seeing knives like yours shown . I doubt that there are many people left that can show Pristine Knives from that period . If we have to show Pristine Knives , then I expect there will be very few shown . Thank you VERY MUCH for showing pictures of your Old TEW my friend .

Harry
 
I think it will reward anybody to read the first dozen or so pages of this thread.It seems to me that when Mick (wellington) instigated this thread he wanted to consider the knives of that particular era. An era that rightly might be seen as a 'golden' one in terms of the knives produced, particularly in contrast to later knives from Sheffield that are very much in its shadow.

However, I think it is the timeline that's significant not notions of high end or exquisite knives, plenty of cheap run of the mill knives would've appeared as well during this time but perhaps they would not have fared so well having led shorter but heavy working lives. Costly knives will have been prized and were likely to survive. Mick himself says that good condition, mint knives are rarities but he shows some examples with full crocus intact, seemingly unused! But all knives within the era are equally relevant. There are many fascinating examples shown in the early pages and useful contributions from connoisseurs/makers some sadly no longer active here.

Here's something to contemplate:

wellington said:
Here's a small sportsman's knife I've been intending to show for a while, marked FORD & MEDLEY, SHEFFIELD C 1890s-1900 ? 3 1/2" closed, ivory scales. The knife is pristine.

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Thanks for looking..Mick
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