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

That Rodgers is a deeply impressive knife on so many levels: construction, aesthetics and I admire the worn but cared for condition, it gives it a lot of presence.

Frankly, I doubt if there is a cutler alive today that could make a knife like that. It would be nice to be wrong!
 
A couple of rare and unusual knives Dwight :thumbup:.

The backspring on the Ashton Jackson whittler does indeed appear to have been forge welded at the pocket blade end, the fact that no divider has been used to keep the spring/blades apart is interesting also. The knife being large serpentine, having stag handle coverings and birds-eye rivets looks very attractive, the sort of thing produced in the early Victorian period.

The Rodgers Norfolk whittler is obviously well used, that particular version with that sabre ground blade I'm guessing is very rare, only ever seen one other and that was in the "Sheffield Exhibition Knife Book" (I think that one measures 4 1/8"?), not sure what Rodgers called the pattern ?. Quite something !.



Not shown the ivory JR Norfolk on this thread yet, as I've already posted pictures of it on the Case/Bose Collaboration 09 thread, I'll just add the one to this.

Marked JOSEPH RODGERS, CUTLERS TO HER MAJESTY C1880-90s ? 3 5/8".

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Mick
 
zerogee said:
Joseph Rodgers Her Majesty (England) "Norfolk" whittler - 3 3/4" closed, stag scales, semi-sunk joints. This is the pattern Remington copied for their unusual "Norfolk" whittlers (considered by most Remington collectors to be the Holy Grails of the old Remington line). "Norfolk" comes from J Rodgers stamping "No 6/Norfolk St/Sheffield" on just about all their knives (where their main factory was). However, I have no idea what Joseph Rodgers themselves called this particular pattern -- what J Rodgers called a "Norfolk Knife" pattern is seen earlier in this thread in a beautiful ivory whittler version from Mick (and in the Case/Bose Collaboration Norfolk). Although very hard to see in the scans due to pocket wear, this Joseph Rodgers had very similar, but even more elaborately threaded bolsters than what you see on the later Remington versions.

One thing Remington didn't fully copy was the complex recurve of the back of the main blade on the Joseph Rodgers version -- keeping the back of the blade very close to the handle when closed and reinforcing all the curve/recurve aesthetics of the handle.

I can see why this knife is so pocket worn -- it's really a sweet piece of work - feels great in the hand in any position. (BTW, this was one of the most difficult Joseph Rodgers patterns for me to track down -- it was a Holy Grail for me for a long time - even getting one in this shape took me years of looking.) Probably one of the best examples I've got of the total finesse and detail these old master cutlers put into their designs.



-- Dwight
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That's a dandy, Dwight. You can tell that knife has been well loved. ;) I hope lots of folks are enjoying the knives and history lessons that are posted here.
 
Joseph Rodgers His Majesty (England) congress pen/half congress - 3 1/2" closed, stag scales, iron bolsters and pins, brass liners. The stag has just enough gnarliness to give me real problems getting a decent scan of this knife.

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-- Dwight
 
A fancy James Rodgers ivory fiddleback pattern folding table knife -- 4 1/8" closed, 3 1/2" blade. Blade comes down to a fine but not sharp edge - maybe 1/64" thick. It would be easily sharpened if desired, but this one is untouched. Blade appears black in the scan, but this is just the great Sheffield black polish - tough to scan. Great swedging. Simply marked James/Rodgers -- seems to be c1825-1850.

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-- Dwight
 
^^ That's a wonderful folding table knife Dwight :thumbup:. Perhaps made by the James Rodgers listed in White's 1849 as a spring knife cutler who had premises at 20 Earl St ? (not the James Rodgers of Unwin & Rodgers).



Here are a trio of slot knives I would like to show…...


Marked GEORGE WOSTENHOLM'S CELEBRATED I*XL CUTLERY, SHEFFIELD., 4 1/2", two parts, stag scales, guessing made 1870s-90s?

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Marked BROOKES & CROOKES (BELL logo), SHEFFIELD 4 3/4". This fine slot knife is made in three parts, brass liners, the blade is tang stamped with the Brookes and Crookes mark, the electro-plated fork and spoon carry the B & C plate marks but they were most likely bought in from Hutton Sheffield.

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Marked W HUTTON & SONS, SHEFFIELD 4 1/4" made in four parts, which is quite unusual, the fork and spoon look silver plated as do the outer handle coverings.

Wiliiam Hutton & Sons were manufacturing silversmiths and cutlers, they made a LOT of plated cutlery parts, such as spoons and forks etc and supplied much of the Sheffield trade.

William Hutton & Sons used "crossed arrows" as a trade mark, three crossed arrows for cutlery, four crossed arrows for plate.


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Thanks for looking..

Mick
 
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Great knives Dwight ! Love the folding table knife.

Mick, the BROOKES & CROOKES is beautiful, but heck they all are !
 
Really impressive Half Congress there Dwight:thumbup: Lovely knife.

Mick, those folding cutlery items are most interesting, talk about being born with a silver spoon in the mouth:D Or rather, EPNS :eek:
 
zerogee said:
A fancy James Rodgers ivory fiddleback pattern folding table knife -- 4 1/8" closed, 3 1/2" blade. Blade comes down to a fine but not sharp edge - maybe 1/64" thick. It would be easily sharpened if desired, but this one is untouched. Blade appears black in the scan, but this is just the great Sheffield black polish - tough to scan. Great swedging. Simply marked James/Rodgers -- seems to be c1825-1850.

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-- Dwight
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Dwight,
A really nice folding table knife that I would think was part of a campaign set, which would have also included a spoon and fork. Here is a set that I own, note the similarity of the knife.

Joe

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Another dimension has been achieved in displaying wonderful, artistic old cutlery! This thread is the jewel of many great threads!
Nice efforts guys, at collecting, and then sharing them with us!
 
Yaro5 said:
Dwight,
A really nice folding table knife that I would think was part of a campaign set, which would have also included a spoon and fork. Here is a set that I own, note the similarity of the knife.

Joe
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Joe, I hadn't thought of that. I'd say it was quite possible that it was originally part of a campaign set - especially with those fancy bolsters and ivory handles emulating fancy tableware. Lovely set you've got there - amazing that they could remain together all this time.

Mick, those are some awesome Sheffield slot knives -- I'm not sure if I even knew old Sheffield made slot knives. Some real beauties there.

-- Dwight
 
Here are three old folders that might be of interest to someone, they're a little tatty looking but I think very worthy nonetheless.
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This first one, a 3 3/4" knife marked "ELREB" is a pretty rare early Barlow pattern, thin forged iron liners with integral bolsters, worn stag handle coverings, the blade would have been shaped to a sharper point and it was made from good quality shear steel, note the forward placement of the anchor rivet, an early feature. After much investigation it was discovered that the ELREB mark belonged to Sheffield maker George Berley (Berley spelt backwards without the "B") :rolleyes:. The mark was registered in 1789.

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This second knife again is fairly early, certainly made before 1825, three thick, all three blades are clearly stamped ATTWOOD, iron liners with integral bolsters, it has pocket, pen and timber scribing blades. No record of the Attwood mark has been found, still remains a mystery.

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This last example is a rare left/right timber scriber, iron liners with integral bolsters, perhaps dating back to the early part of the 19C ?, marked HANDLEA, HEREFORD. I'm guessing made in Sheffield, but not entirely sure ?.


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Thanks for looking.. Mick
 
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That Hereford marked timber scriber is a mind boggler. Two identical scribes on one knife, kind of timber Muskrat pattern.... Nice cut out too.Why marked Hereford though? It's not a place that has a traditional connexion with timber or near a port is it? Plenty of good cider though! Many thanks for showing these, they must be the oldest yet shown on the forum.
 
Delighted you like the Elreb Rob, it's in better condition than it looks, the blade still snaps open and closed.

Hi willgoy, the Hereford area was as you say famous for its cider making, I wondered if the scriber would have been used for marking barrels ?.

The city of Bristol did have it's own cutlery industry and as its fairly near Hereford, I guess the Handlea scriber could have been made there and not Sheffield, difficult to be sure.

Mick
 
Set of 6 Jos. Rodgers Tea Knives

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I think these handles are called "Tulip" pattern

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E Crown R Edward VII 1901-1910

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roland
 
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