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

navin74 said:
I recently acquired this W.Saynor pruner knife from a gracious member here named Sigman. I am wondering if this Sheffield knife fits into the date range of the rest of these great knives in this post. If anyone has an idea of when this knife was made, I would love to know. This is my first Sheffield knife and I look forward to collecting more.
Thank you,
Nathan

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That's a very nice pruner Nathan, a good first Sheffield blade. It's almost impossible to date any knife with certainty, examples with jigged bone scales were more common from the mid 1930s onwards. I've a nice Saynor somewhere I'll try and dig it out and post a pic for comparison.

Mick
 
wlfryjr said:
Nice one Navin,regardless of age.

Mick,
I think you've found it.Thanks for your input.Did you have an ancestor named Doyle?:)

Time frame is there. Do you have any notion of approximate period the pressed stag was used?
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Ha ha..really pleased you've a bit of background info on that knife, it's a grand thing. I always think it adds a bit of character to something if you can fill in the gaps. I'm not entirely sure about the date with it having the pressed stag scales, perhaps someone may know ?

Mick
 
Mick: It is truly great to have you back and commenting on this great thread you started.

As I promised here is my other Crossland Bros, Sheffield. This one is not as large as the 3 spring, but pretty nice condition all these years later. Charles
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It always a pleasure to drop by and see what's been posted..

That's another top quality Crossland Charles, very nice. I think it's the firms 520 pattern.

As I may have mentioned before Crosslands supplied the firm of John Watts, amongst others, with their BEST finished knives. This particular pattern was supplied to Watts as far back as 1893. In 1909 Crosslands charged 48 shillings (about £2-25p) per doz (14 to the doz). Watts then sold on the knives at 6 shillings each..

Mick
 
Here's the W Saynor (DEPEND) pruner I mentioned yesterday, the knife measure 4" and has really nice buffalo scales with a metal cap on the end. I would guess this knife is pre WW2.

The second pruner in the picture is marked Robt T Plum and is C mid 19c. This knife could have been made in Bristol, the city was once a provincial cutlery centre, or it could have been imported from Sheffield.

Both pruners have STRONG open and close snap :(






Mick
 
Mick, thanks for the additional information. Your special knowledge of Sheffield and English knives is a delight to this collector. And your personal knife collection isn't bad either!!

Charles
 
As Charles has said Mick - good to "see" you my friend, I guess you are out there in those paddocks going hard?
Those Saynor's are always a great, I am going to have a dig round, as I am sure I have a few great old Pruners, here is an older photo..
I just found this photo, not a pruner, but a good ol' English knife, its a shame that the kick is not doing it'd job as the knife has no snap what -so-ever, but still usable as a knife because the blade doesn't just flop - it stays put..



Here is s massively solid beast, Mick reminded me of it when he described his lovely Saynors very strong snap - this thing is like a Bear trap - heres the size of the Spring..


Its Stamping - not the clearest shot ( an older one )


Hey - not the prettiest, but amazing snap for a knife over a 100 years old..


Speaking of massive, ( forgive me as I have posted this knife quite some time ago on this thread ).... the spring on this lovely old Sheffield is huge, the Stag like Micks Saynor is just superb - it just gets better with age doesn't it...






ok, I cant find the other photo's of the Pruners I wanted to retrieve - the Garden is calling me, so I outside now, have a great day everyone :)
 
Another museum piece Charles.Great photos John.

wellington said:
Here's the W Saynor (DEPEND) pruner I mentioned yesterday, the knife measure 4" and has really nice buffalo scales with a metal cap on the end. I would guess this knife is pre WW2.

The second pruner in the picture is marked Robt T Plum and is C mid 19c. This knife could have been made in Bristol, the city was once a provincial cutlery centre, or it could have been imported from Sheffield.

Both pruners have STRONG open and close snap :(

Mick
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That Saynor is very nice.We know I like the curves.:)I have heard recently ,that Saynors were considered foremost in the horticultural line of knives. I also learned,from the same source :) , that these pruning blades were also called peach blades by some in the old Sheffield vernacular. Thanks Mick.
 
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Campbellclanman said:
As Charles has said Mick - good to "see" you my friend, I guess you are out there in those paddocks going hard?
Those Saynor's are always a great, I am going to have a dig round, as I am sure I have a few great old Pruners, here is an older photo..
I just found this photo, not a pruner, but a good ol' English knife, its a shame that the kick is not doing it'd job as the knife has no snap what -so-ever, but still usable as a knife because the blade doesn't just flop - it stays put..

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Duncan ,I think she might of had some curves in her younger days,and did some pruning??:) What's her size?
I like these knives.
 
Lyle, I will have to get to my knives and dig it out for you-I will be back with the info for you Sir!
 
There's a lot to look at there Duncan, that rope knife looks like a proper 'man's ' knife, I don't think I've ever seen a back spring so thick..watch those fingers ! The top pruner carries the Jonathan Crookes marks, Slaters owned the marks of that firm in the later days, Stan Shaw made some of their knives.

Mick
 
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Just like to show this very fine horseman's knife, the only thing I bought last year :(

The knife measures 5" , marked HARRISON BROS & HOWSON (rev SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND), CUTLERS TO HIS MAJESTY, and ALPHA. Unused and untouched, all original with nice glazed blades with patina, strong snap, perfect stag. Pretty pleased with this one, certainly one of my favourite larger knives..







Mick
 
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That's astounding!

How on earth can it have been left so well-preserved? Especially in that damp British climate..:D:eek: The stag looks like it left the shop yesterday, and WHAT stag too.

I also greatly admired that Horn Pruner you showed earlier, wonderful colour on that yet I always thought Horn was left for fancier patterns. The Head Gardener's knife perhaps?

Thank you for showing these captivating knives from another age.:thumbup:

Will
 
Well Mick, if THATS the only knife you bought last year - you still did good my friend - wow!!
I love ( obviously ) the beautiful Stag, Early German and English knives have/had the ELITE of all Stag.
The stampings are fantastic - the Alpha - what is that about Mick, in the early days on Bowie knives they used such stampings along the blades that had all sorts of meanings - is this used in the same such manner?
Beautiful top end knife Mick, always a pleasure to view your knives, and thank for sharing with us!
 
Thanks for the positive comments on the horseman's Jeff, Will & Duncan..:)

I forgot to mention the firm acquired the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria, then later from Edward VII, so the knife dates roughly 1901-1910.

H Bros & H relocated from works on Shoreham and Norfolk streets to new premises fronting Calver Street in 1900. The now retired Calver st works are still there today with the H Bros & H 'coronet' & 'ALPHA' still having pride of place over the main door.

Duncan I'm not sure when the firm acquired the 'Alpha' mark, apparently it was first granted to a William Sansom or Samuel Harwood in 1836, partners to one of the earlier Harrisons ? not entirely sure. The Sheffield firms loved their trade marks and certainly used them extensively..

Mick
 
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This thread is a place of wonder and amazement!
Astounding additions lately! Thanks Mick, Charles, Duncan, Nathan, Lyle et. alia for your great presentations.
This strange Beasty seems to belong in this thread, by virtue of its origins, if not its class!:)
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Also posted in BRL's thread, because of its stamp spelling, among other questions!
 
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That's a strange beastie alright. Looks like it was made by Thos Ibbotson Co ?..wonder if the TOHs (it should read THOs) letters were struck individually and the cutler got a little mixed up ?.

Could it be a vine cutter ?

Lots of question marks ..Mick:D
 
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