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

Here's a couple I thought I'd add to Mick's wonderful thread.. Joseph Law Swayback Jack, Horn, 4-3/4 closed. stamped
Joseph Law, 13 Spring Ln. Sheffield. c.1820. It's a big one..lol

IXL Gunstock jack, Horn, 3-5/8 closed, IXL George Wostenholm Sheffield, England.

Jason

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IXL Gunstock

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Jason,

Like the IXL! I almost decided to cut pieces out for one today to take to Blade. I like the Water Buffalo horn? and no cap on this one. Size is cool to at 3 5/8.

Thanks for sharing,
 
ken erickson said:
Jason,

Like the IXL! I almost decided to cut pieces out for one today to take to Blade. I like the Water Buffalo horn? and no cap on this one. Size is cool to at 3 5/8.

Thanks for sharing,
Click to expand...

Thanks Ken, Gunstock is one of my fav's for sure. I like this size better than
the 3-1/4. Thanks again.

Jason
 
New here. I have posted some pictures of this little penknife on BritishBlades, but I thought y'all might be interested as well; it is marked "JAS SEFTON SHEFFIELD" on the smaller blade & "SEFTON SHEFFIELD" on the larger blade (tip broken). It has tortoiseshell scales backed with gold-leaf with nickel-silver rivets & carbon-steel blades. The lack of "England" in the markings is useful in terms of dating it to pre-McKinley, but it is a bit earlier still - probably mid/late Victorian, according to those guys:
James Sefton, Cutler, Pearl Street, Sheffield died 22nd November, 1886 aged fifty and was buried in the General Cemetery, but the odd thing is he doesn't appear in Census records 1841-1881: presumably he moved to the city late in his relatively short life. It is reasonable to assume that Sefton's output figures would be relatively low in number although it's possible that he could have been producing knives for a quarter of a century prior to his death at the age of fifty.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15197415@N00/7198697062/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15197415@N00/7198697890/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15197415@N00/7198697796/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/15197415@N00/7198697572/
BroGeo
 
I posted this in the lobsters thread, but I think it also belongs here. A little (2 1/4") I*XL (made in Sheffield blades) with sterling scales made in Birmingham (by the markings on the scales) dates around 1830. The marks on the sterling scales are very tiny and the date mark is very hard for me to read, but that is my best guess. Any additional information or comments welcome.

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Charles, a very interesting and intricate knife you show here. How are the silver scales attached? Does it have liners? Do you think it's stamped or cast handles?

Perhaps you could show a close-up of the hallmarks please? Date stamps can be tricky as guilds often used similar but subtly different shaped stamps, lettering too.

Regards, Will
 
Will: Here are some additional photos I was able to get, to try and address your questions. The scales are the liners and may have been made in a different time period than the knife? They appear to be pinned and I'm guessing that the handles are cast. These photos give a better look at the sterling marks and I still read them as Birmingham and 1830.

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Very nice knives. The Joseph Law knife is specially interesting because of the very rare stamping. I wondered how you dated it.

Joe

bakerg2g said:
Here's a couple I thought I'd add to Mick's wonderful thread.. Joseph Law Swayback Jack, Horn, 4-3/4 closed. stamped
Joseph Law, 13 Spring Ln. Sheffield. c.1820. It's a big one..lol

IXL Gunstock jack, Horn, 3-5/8 closed, IXL George Wostenholm Sheffield, England.

Jason

Swayback009.jpg


Swayback017.jpg


Swayback023.jpg


Swayback025.jpg


Swayback026.jpg


IXL Gunstock

Swayback031.jpg


Swayback033.jpg
Click to expand...
 
The Horn on that I*XL Gunstock continues to overawe me.

Colouration is fantastic and too the general condition. Shows they knew how to cure Horn properly in those days. All too often this is not the case now.

Regards to all, Will
 
Mick I thought these would be a good fit in your thread here. If not let me know and I will ask a Moderator to remove it.

Sheffield Catalog Print Blocks

I recently came across these and thought I would share. First off I cleaned them up a bit and tried to ink them and make some impressions on paper but either they are too worn down or I don't know what I am doing. The latter more likely. The bases are wood and what you cannot tell from the pictures is the engraved parts are copper. I just do not have the proper photography equipment to really capture the detail.

First - I*XL Wostenholm

Image size 5 1/4" X 3/4" at widest point. No pattern number on the block. The tang stamp appears as:

I*XL George
Wostenholm
Sheffield

Mick, from what I can tell from your thread concerning I*XL Markings on British Blades this marking first appeared in catalogs in 1885. Do I have this about right?

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2nd - Johnson Western

Image size 3 3/8" X 3/8". Tang stamped Johnson over Western with a flag to the side. Goins' does not address this specific tang stamp but dates Johnson Western as and older Johnson marking. At the end of the block it has the number 4519-I. Pattern number possibly?

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I'd not seen this thread before. Just read through the first 20 pages and I'm EXHAUSTED! Have to read the rest of it later, it's too much! :D
 
Reading through this thread has been incredible, such a great repository of knowledge, and with more knives on display than in all of the Sheffield museums combined. It's stirred up a lot of memories for me, many only half recollected unfortunately. I could have easily gone into the steel and cutlery industry as a young 'un, like everyone else in my extended family, but having spent his entire working-life in factories as a machine-tool fitter, my dad was always dead set against me entering one, even though I ended up doing a similiar job (as an apprentice mechanic and plant fitter). I also lived at a time when Sheffield knives, even the old ones, could be had for next to nothing, being undervalued by practically everyone :(

Here's an ad for the small firm my dad did his apprenticeship, and where he worked both before and after doing his National Service in the army, and before moving on to work at bigger firms.

 
Sorry I've absent for a while guys.

Brad, thank for posting pictures of your wonderful old printing blocks, great to see..

Jack, nice to hear about your Dad, it must of been tough hard work in the post war period, undertandable wanting something better for you.. Back in 1901 my Gt Grandfather was an apprentice boiler maker at Sheffield Station, I've an old painting of the loco he worked on..

Here's a few pictures of an interesting 'early' pocket knife, the blade is marked BROWN very likely George Brown of Coal Pit lane 1787-1797. All intact and original, it has very unusual hinged covers that swing up to reveal inserts, they click shut to close.

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Mick
 
wellington said:
Jack, nice to hear about your Dad, it must of been tough hard work in the post war period, undertandable wanting something better for you.. Back in 1901 my Gt Grandfather was an apprentice boiler maker at Sheffield Station, I've an old painting of the loco he worked on..
Click to expand...

Hi Mick, that's a very interesting knife. At least I think there was plenty of work available in the post-war period, though I'm sure conditions weren't the best. After leaving Walters & Dobsons, my Dad went to James Neill's, where he met my Mother. Then got poached with a higher wage offer by Richards, and then went back to Neill's, where he worked alongside his younger brother until the early 80's. My Grandafather worked at Sheffield station, as did my Great Uncle. Small world my friend :)
 
Its good to see you back Mick, we sure have missed you.
That Brown is a beautiful example, I couldn't imagine my excitement coming across a knife such as this! When you say "hinged covers", just what were these covers used for - and how Mick?

So what do you think of the thread eh Jack? pretty awesome isn't it, the only reason I haven't posted on here lately is that I haven't the good fortune to have found another Sheffield beauty that fits into this magnificent Thread!
 
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