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

Here are a few pictures of one of my favourite old knives, marked THOMAS TURNER & Co, SHEFFIELD "ENCORE" C 1890 4" closed (2196.1 pat) "3 thick" sportsman's knife, crocus polished throughout (apart from the full length saw which is glazed), fabulous ivory scales, unused pristine.

6W6C3755-1.jpg


003-5-1-1.jpg

005-5-1.jpg

004-6.jpg


Mick :)
 
I feel like I belong to the "Museum display of the day" club, with you around Mick. I appreciate you showing these knives here. Many owners are not so generous!
Not that there are many knives like these around!!
 
Quoting Mr. Charlie: "Not that there are many knives like these around!!"
Charlie, are there any Sheffield knives of this era and quality and condition, in North America ?
may sound like a dumb question, but ebay and BF are my only sources of info and i suspect there may be elite collections that are never seen at these locales. but i don't know.
thanks, roland
 
Mick,

All lovely knives in your collection!

I have one by H. Barnascone & Son Sheffield, circa 1860-90`s. Lockback, stag handles, steel lined and pinned. Knives of this era are a pleasure to hold and examine.

1-1.jpg
 
Roland,

Rest assured, there ARE a few collections of these FINE knives in existence. The folks that own them are not keen to share them with the public for several reasons. One such reason is security!

Knives of this quality are worth considerable sums of money. Hence a reluctance to announce whereabouts.

It has long been my opinion that there is much to be learned from seeing such fine knives. For this reason alone, Mick is to be congratulated for giving the members something to appreciate and drool over.

I, for one, never tire of seeing such items.

Jim Taylor.
 
Thanks Jim,
When 'the time' comes for knives of this caliber to be sold, how is it managed ? are there a few 'elite' dealers, or broker direct to other known collectors, or ??. they don't end up on ebay, that much i know.
how would one even find out what might be available ?
roland
 
Thanks Mick,
Two more absolute stunners, and I have to say that your photos are topnotch. When you own such pristine mint knives, do you store them in a special way and how often do you clean them?
Here is a four blade Congress. Master sheepfoot is stamped " Singleton & Priestman" on front and "Razor Steel between two arrow heads" logo on reverse. Smaller sheepfoot and nail file are both stamped " Singleton & Priestman". The pen blade however is stamped "W. Singleton 10 Bakers Hill Sheffield" which is interesting. All blades have long pulls. It has stag handles , NS bolsters and brass liners. Circa 1880-1900.

Joe

3446ych.jpg
 
Hi Roland,

Sadly, one has to be on the "inside" OR, attendance at the major knife shows would be imperative. The dealers know who the "big hitters" are and they obviously gravitate towards them. The opportunities to purchase ARE there, but it is certainly necessary to know the right people AND be prepared to pay whatever the price is!

The very valuable antique Bowie knives can be found at the specialist shows and these, too, often change hands "quietly." Once again, specialized auction are also used for such items. i.e. The Williamson collection, and before that, the Schriner and Berriman collections.

Very recently The Donald Littman collection was auctioned off by Greg Martin of California. This collection included some folding knives that were THE TOPS!! I assure you that Mick would agree with this assessment.

Jim Taylor.
 
Thanks for the positive comments on the Turner & Co sportsman's guys.

There are some fabulous collections of pen, pocket and Bowie knives over in the US, and elsewhere, I know antique cutlery items of supreme quality do come up for sale at various auctions fairly regularly.

cutlersedge, that's a grand looking large lock-back folder from a highly rated maker..thanks for showing :thumbup: .

I will just add one or two more knives to this thread over the next day or two....starting with this small, 3" closed, delicate, exquisite early to mid Victorian ? swell centre ivory penknife, marked on the tangs BRIGHT & SON, SHEFFIELD such a sweet little thing !

Mark side
009-3.jpg

Pile side
011-3.jpg


Thanks for looking..Mick
 
Man, that ivory on the small pen looks great after so many years. Talk about a slim, slender, dainty wonderful example of the cutler's art!
 
Yaro5 said:
Thanks Mick,
Two more absolute stunners, and I have to say that your photos are topnotch. When you own such pristine mint knives, do you store them in a special way and how often do you clean them?
Here is a four blade Congress. Master sheepfoot is stamped " Singleton & Priestman" on front and "Razor Steel between two arrow heads" logo on reverse. Smaller sheepfoot and nail file are both stamped " Singleton & Priestman". The pen blade however is stamped "W. Singleton 10 Bakers Hill Sheffield" which is interesting. All blades have long pulls. It has stag handles , NS bolsters and brass liners. Circa 1880-1900.

Joe
Click to expand...

Sorry Joe I missed your post, your Singleton and Priestman Congress looks a stunning example, I really like it.

"Razor Steel" & the two broad arrows (logo) were used as trade marks by both W Singleton & Co & Singleton & Preistman.

William Singleton & Co, Pound Hill, Directory of Sheffield 1893 (also listed in 'Whites Hardware Trademarks Aug 1892)

Singleton & Priestman, Pound Hill, Directory of Sheffield 1895-96.

Looks like the Singleton and Priestman business was established C 1894, your congress penknife being made after that date.

I've no special way of storing knives, other than keeping the blades free from finger prints, and storing everything at a fairly stable temp.

Thanks for showing...Mick
 
Last edited:
many thanks to wellington and all the rest of you guys for the fantastic review. for myself these pieces represent the zenith of all cutlery. the only yardstick in my experience is that to cutlery they are the Bachs & Beethovens to music.
 
Thanks for the encouraging comments Ken, 4ever3 and Dennis.

I like the analogy Bach & Beethoven akin to the Sheffield knives of yesteryear ! :D

Here's an interesting BROOKES & CROOKES, SHEFFIELD C 1880 ? 2 3/4" 2 blade penknife, fan shaped liners complete with matching carved ivory scales, gold washed fileworked back-spring, really high quality.

These fan shaped knives, I call them "Nautilus" are very attractive, various makers produced these, all look very similar, always wondered if they were sourced from one specialist outworker ?

DSC03284-1.jpg


Mick
 
Fantastic Mick & Thank You :thumbup: Great thread here,
-Vince
 
Last edited:
Here's a picture of another "nautilus", marked JOSEPH WESTBY, SHEFFIELD C 1880s ? 2 3/4" this time hafted in pearl, again the backspring is fileworked and gilded, this knife has a pen blade and a button hook.

007-4.jpg


004-7.jpg


Mick
 
Nice "Nautili" Mick. Beautiful cousins, they appear to be similarly sourced!!
 
Nice Mick,
Another fine example of the 19c cutlers craftmanship.
Here is what I guess you'd call a baby jack knife. The knife is two inches closed with two blades a pen and quill. Both blades are stamped " Thomas Turner & Co Suffolk Works". Integral iron liners and bolsters. Looks to be pretty early c.1840-1850.

Joe

ic2srd.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top