The Silence of The Lambsfoot

Thanks a lot Charlie :) Hard to believe Wright's wouldn't want to own up to this one! :D
 
Hey Jack, sorry to hear about the bad experience with ordering from a site and I remember your helpful advise to me but sometimes that is the only alternative and I think the Ebony Lambsfoot (along with your others) is a very beautiful example. I was admiring it on the What Traditional Knife are you totin today thread earlier.
 
Thanks a lot Dave, I'll just chalk it down to experience - unfortunately we have a surfeit of second-rate part-time knife distributors here. I'm glad to at least get a nice example of the pattern in ebony :)
 
MerryMadMonk said:
I found one! :)

E. Watts / Sheffield... haven't come up with anything definitive on google, but then I haven't really got into the weeds.
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Very stout backspring, strong snap with half-stop. 3 1/2 inches closed. (that's a speck of old paint, to the right of the top, mark side, handle pin... almost looks like another pin in the photos. Should be easy to remove with a little goo remover and a toothpick).
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That's a real nice one, Al!!
 
Nice ebony, Jack. Just get some patina going on that blade, and you won't see the maker's mark so clearly. :D
Seriously, that's the kind of knife that will age well.
 
Sadly, many of the images are now gone from this old thread, but there's still some interesting discussion here I think (and WAY too many Sheepsfoot pics for a Lambsfoot thread!) ;) :thumbup:
 
Woodrow F Call said:
Jack Black: I just ran away.
Pertinux: No "just", Jack. What set you off? You started at what time?
Jack Black: Early, still dark.
Pertinux: Then something woke you, didn't it? Was it a dream? What was it?
Jack Black: I heard a strange noise.
Pertinux: What was it?
Jack Black: It was... clanging. Some kind of clanging, like a broken trash compactor.
Pertinux: What did you do?
Jack Black: I went downstairs, outside. I crept up into the barn. I was so scared to look inside, but I had to.
Pertinux: And what did you see, Jack? What did you see?
Jack Black: Lambs foot knives. The Lambs foot knives were clanging.
Pertinux: They were throwing away the stainless steel Lambs foot knives?
Jack Black: And they were clanging.
Pertinux: And you ran away?
Jack Black: No. First I tried to buy them. I... I offered money to the vendor, but they wouldn't sell. They just stood there, confused. They wouldn't sell.
Pertinux: But you could and you did, didn't you?
Jack Black: Yes. I took one Lambs foot knife, and I ran away as fast as I could.
Pertinux: Where were you going, Jack?
Jack Black: I don't know. I didn't have any food, any water and it was very cold, very cold. I thought, I thought if I could save just one, but... it was a copy. Just a copy. I didn't get more than a few miles when the sheriff's car picked me up. The vendor was so angry he sent me to live at the Pub in Yorkshire. I never saw the shop again.
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I'd forgotten about this! :D :D :D :thumbup:
 
Jack Black said:
Sadly, many of the images are now gone from this old thread, but there's still some interesting discussion here I think (and WAY too many Sheepsfoot pics for a Lambsfoot thread!) ;) :thumbup:
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Jack - I totally agree with you my friend. Having never posted it here I figured it might be appropriate to post my Humphreys Real Lamb Foot. I still consider this to be the best Jackson I ever spent while "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay." :D

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Well, now... I didn't want to say anything ahead of time, for fear of a jinx, but... It's here, and I think it's worth a mention. Mail call today! Finally got my own Real Lamb Foot!
This one's made by E. Blyde & Co. Ltd., and I assume in Sheffield although the stamp does not indicate a place of origin. From a quick web search, it seems to me that E. Blyde & Co is still operating, making mostly pewter vessels and such. Anyone know how to tell the approximate age of this knife?
It's a big one, relatively speaking, at 4 3/16" length. Been around the block a few times, judging by the repaired cracks in the handle, but hasn't had a very hard life -- the blade's very full, and there's not much actual wear on the handles apart from the cracks.
The spring is flush in all three positions (of course there's a half stop).
All the steel was covered in red rust, but that was easily knocked off with a Scotch pad.
So, without further ado, here it is!

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Nice Lambsfoot! :thumbup: I'll post up some info on Edwin Blyde shortly (just need to upload a couple of pics) :thumbup:
 
Edwin Blyde & Co of Sheffield go back to the beginning of the 20th century, though Blyde himself had been involved in various partnerships for nearly 50 years prior to that. In the late 19th century he lived just a couple of streets away from where I once lived myself. He died in 1914, but two years prior to this, he sold his business to Walter Trickett. From the 1950's, the firm mainly concentrated on pewter ware, and Anglo Works barely changed inside until production ceased there in 1989. It was renovated in 2006, and looks like this (below) today. The Blyde and Trickett names are today owned by a company called Chimo Holdings.



I'll add another pic when Photobucket finally grinds its way to completion :grumpy:

 
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John_Slider sent me these pictures asking if I could read or interpret the stampings. We all, of course, want to know who made that interesting Lambfoot knife!
The knife, goggles etc. were found with the remains of George Mallory 75 years after he was lost trying to conquer Everest!
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I first found the Seattle-based photographer whose name is tagged onto the photos; a pleasant fellow who no longer had the photos, but who gave me the names of the people who commissioned the pictures. They in turn provided better pictures, after I explained our semi-formal mission here to find out as much about traditional cutlery as we can!!
The two men I contacted, along with a third partner, authored the book "Ghosts of Everest", which is the story of finding the remains of that ill-fated 1924 expedition of George Mallory.
Here are the detail pictures:
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Thanks to Jim Fagiolo the photograper, and to Jochen Hemmleb and Eric Simonson the authors and mountaineers!

"Dear Eric & Charlie,



please find attached three images of the knife - maybe these are helpful.

The knife maker appears to be W.E. Oates of Sheffield.



The knife itself should be located at the Royal Geographical Society in London.



Best,

Jochen"
 
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