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

waynorth, what a super old hawk bill pruner, those scratched (scratted ?) bone scales are fabulous !!.

Thanks for showing !. :thumbup:


Here's a picture of another, slightly later No 6 Norfolk St, Sheffield, England. pruner 1930 (ish) 4 1/2" closed, stag scales, iron pins, bosters and liners.

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Mick
 
Those are beautiful knives guys. Thanks for showing them. These are two Harrison Bros & Howson pruners. The first, with rosewood scales, has a hand-forged spring. The second knife is a later model and has some fine stag. I'm thinking circa 1880s and early 1900s respectively. Please correct me if I am wrong about that. Thanks

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This one is an interesting early example of recycling: scratted bone handles, probably made no later than 1830, with a Harrison Bros & Howson blade, dating from after 1862, but not repinned anytime recently.:D Thanks for starting this thread, Mick.:thumbup:
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There's just no stag like old English stag. They knew what they were doing back then.

I definatly think that was THE golden age of cutlery. Every example of those old Sheffield knives that I have had the luck to handle, have been cutlery example of prefection. :thumbup:
 
Mick, that Pruner is a very nice handful and particularly appreciate seeing its box too:thumbup: Some more original boxes would be excellent, must be scarcer than hen's teeth though:D

S-K the Alpha Knife (no false modesty on that blade!) shows off some more of that rich 'Christmas Pudding' stag, very satisfying thanks!
 
Neat looking knife Dave!
Thanks for that old "scratting" specimen, Berkley! Must have been a standard pattern, or maybe the same hand did yours AND mine!!!
Another grand specimen, Mick!
Never tire of you old faithfuls S-K!
 
A LOT going on here !.

Hi s-k, great to see those two Harrison Bros & Howson pruners, side by side, both excellent examples, an earlier and a later version, agree with your dates. Thanks for showing.

Berkely, thanks for adding that rare old (very old) jack knife, interesting comparing it waynorths later JR hawk bill pruner.

jackknife, agree :thumbup:

willgoy, Christmas pudding stag ! :D

knowtracks, I rate F & M knives highly, I think the firm wound down in the 1920s, not sure who ended up buying the works, trade marks and stock ?, think there was a connection to Thos Wards (of Wardonia Razor fame, will find out ?) thanks for showing.

1fartsmella, love the knives you have posted pics of, both look in genuine all original condition, both desirable patterns. The Wostenholm is a rare knife, I've only ever seen one other 3 blade congress (and that one was made by JR & S), I like those bone stag scales too. The second knife, the Jonathan Crookes & Son whittler, is it 3 1/2" closed ? (590 pat ?), a very attractive looking example, guessing made C 1920 ?. (if pos could you edit the post, so one picture is under the other, not side by side, cheers)

Here's a scan taken from a 1920s Jonathan Crookes cataogue.
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Mick :)
 
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Mick, thanks for starting this thread. an immediate 'crowd pleaser' !
the 2 knives you have shown us so far are truly 'mint', whereas Sheffield knives of this era which are in North American collections are mostly used or showing considerable oxidation.
how rare are mint specimens of this era in Britain ?
roland
 
I'll take a gross of those Crookes from the catalogue please:D

Particularly like the maker's mark on that one. Heart coming from a flintlock pistol! Never seen it before. Old catalogues are a major reference work, priceless.
 
rprocter said:
Mick, thanks for starting this thread. an immediate 'crowd pleaser' !
the 2 knives you have shown us so far are truly 'mint', whereas Sheffield knives of this era which are in North American collections are mostly used or showing considerable oxidation.
how rare are mint specimens of this era in Britain ?
roland
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H Roland,

There has been a great response from forum members, to this Sheffield knife thread, and some super examples shown so far, highly delighted.

In answer to your question, how rare are "mint" knives in Britain ?..very !.

Interest in antique pen and pocket knives, in the UK, has until fairly recently been quite modest, the hobby only really taking off in the late 1990s.

Mint antique knives are knives that have never been used, they usually only come from certain sources, display cabinets, old factory stock, salesman's sample rolls etc, most of this sort of stuff was shipped out of Sheffield over to the US during the 1970s-early 1980s.

Mick
 
wellington that box is a 1st for me ever. i'm 70 & never saw a joseph rogers box. will add another war storey to the thread. adams of atlantic cut. went to england about 1971 or so looking for old knives. he told his backers that his quest might take 6 months but it lasted 2 yrs. he brought literally tons of stuff back& formed atlanta cut. in 75 & 76 he offered mint rogers pearl stockman for 95$. like the rest of fools i wanted old american. saw a j.rogers knife case in window of old liquor store, owner would'nt sell. came back to texas & buddy sent me a razor set to look at in1986. sister in law found in london. was 7 razors in leather case on red velvet. hippo tusks handles , each one had day of week on blade. only 3 had light use. was'nt for sale so i showed it to some friends & shipped back. at least i was able to know such things were in existance. thanks for all you guys contribution. in old sheffield days the finish cutlers would show products to foreman at english plants to be inspected & draw their wages for the week. was termed " liver & pay" [ deliver & draw wages ] some knifes were so close in tolerance would hold h2o in frames for a short time. thank you guys.
 
I have always been deeply captivated by the dark hued stag that the English companies used. Nobody else ever had the texture and shade of those old ones from Sheffield. I'm convinced they had some deep closely guarded secret process for that stag. Even the Germans, who used a lot of it, never had the look of the Sheffield companies.

I love stag porn. There I said it.:D
 
DennisStrickland said:
wellington that box is a 1st for me ever. i'm 70 & never saw a joseph rogers box. will add another war storey to the thread. adams of atlantic cut. went to england about 1971 or so looking for old knives. he told his backers that his quest might take 6 months but it lasted 2 yrs. he brought literally tons of stuff back& formed atlanta cut. in 75 & 76 he offered mint rogers pearl stockman for 95$. like the rest of fools i wanted old american. saw a j.rogers knife case in window of old liquor store, owner would'nt sell. came back to texas & buddy sent me a razor set to look at in1986. sister in law found in london. was 7 razors in leather case on red velvet. hippo tusks handles , each one had day of week on blade. only 3 had light use. was'nt for sale so i showed it to some friends & shipped back. at least i was able to know such things were in existance. thanks for all you guys contribution. in old sheffield days the finish cutlers would show products to foreman at english plants to be inspected & draw their wages for the week. was termed " liver & pay" [ deliver & draw wages ] some knifes were so close in tolerance would hold h2o in frames for a short time. thank you guys.
Click to expand...

Fascinating Dennis, I once read a great article, that told the story of Bill Adams, scavenging Sheffield in the early 70s..in it Bill tells how he goes to visit Rodgers (he in turn visits all the major makers) there everybody is falling over themselves to "sell" (give) stuff to him, he buys it by the pile, then a guy mentions they have a pattern chest in the basement and he can buy what he wants for a few pence (cents) each !!!!, in the chest there are pattern books and 1000 mint JR knives (1880), one of each pattern made !!!!, then Bill asks if there are any older knives, hundreds of mint Georgian JRs had just been sold to a shop on West St, he goes the next day and buys the lot !!! for just a few quid (less than a few $$ a piece) !!!......those were the days !.

Mick
 
Here's one for jackknife :D .

Without a doubt Sheffield made, this fine sportsman's knife carries the marks of a retailer Nicholson, Manchester C1860s ? 5" closed. Being of a complex custom design it would of been made to order. All blades and tools open and close with snap, even the stone hook. Three of the four under scale inserts are non-original.

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Thanks for looking.

Mick
 
Oh my, I think I just started getting an arousel!:eek:

I warned you I was a stag porn peeper. Thats one of the most beautiful examples of the multiplex knife that I've seen with stag. Breath taking. Given that I like scout knives and sak's, this one really pushes my button. Is there anyone you want killed? I'll take of them for the knife!:D

If the under scale inserts are not original, who would have done the repair work, sent back to factory?

Absolutly exquisite wellington. Made my day. I just may dream about it and make my night!:D


Is that a toothpick or tweezers under that scale?
 
jackknife said:
Absolutly exquisite wellington. Made my day. I just may dream about it and make my night!:D

Is that a toothpick or tweezers under that scale?
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Now now..calm down owd lad :D.

Pleased you like the Nicholson, it's a heavy knife and just oozes quality.

The two inserts at the pocket blade end are the picker and the original tweezers (the original picker measured 4 3/4" !!, at the opposite end I think there would have been a t/shell thumb lancet and a 12" (2 joint) ruler. The present replacements were made by Stan Shaw.

Mick
 
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