Old Quill Knife

[smiling-knife]

Here is an old fixed-blade quill/pen knife made by George Butler & Co. The handle is made of ebony wood and is marked with a crown and s.o. I believe this to be from Her Majesty's (Victoria's) stationery office. The office was responsible for producing royal and parlimentary documents. The knife looks unsharpened and minimally unused. Except for a little tarnish it could almost be mint. It has what appears to be original case aswell.

 

[sunnyd]

S~K,
What approximate date would you assign to such a fine example quill knife?. And was the purpose for this type of knife was to erase text or what exactly?. Thanks.

Anthony

 

[Win Heger]

That's a neat little knife. The Quill Knife was used to sharpen the Quill for writing. I've got a couple by Japanese maker H. Ohta made after a Sheffield pattern.

Win

 

[smiling-knife]

Hi. I estimate about mid 1800s but I do not have a definitive date. Not for erasing ink but, as win suggests, sharpening quills and other light desk related tasks, e.g., opening envelopes.

Edit: Here is an example of an eraser knife. The parchement in those days was much thicker than current paper and one could scrape the ink away and write over the area.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Victorian-ant...goryZ969QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[sunnyd]

Very cool. Thanks for the link an explanation.

 

[pauldulson]

Nice knife , I like the case too, good to find such a fine , complete example.

Paul.