Joseph Elliot Unrestored

Looks like a too good to be true. Assuming the seller is right wouldn't you think they would be asking for more?


Joseph Elliott Sheffield 1"inch Heavy Barber's Notch Vintage Straight Razor | eBay

Tainted horn for me.

I have watched that one for while, because I have a few large Joseph Elliot razors in my collection and they are not seen that often in good or restored condition. My thoughts are that is it were completely unrestored the steel would show some age signs, like a nice even pale grey tone. It is highly polished though leaving me to believe it has seen some work. It does have nice crisp lines and a deep and dark makers mark. So how much work it has had will never really be known, but it looks like the work that has been done has been well done for the most part. It is a nice razor but not quite believable as a completely original and unrestored razor. If you look at his other items he has some very nice razors and everything is fairly pristine. I think he likely either does really good work or has been collecting well restored and premium pieces. I also thing that the scales are likely dyed horn. I could also be wrong on it being all original and completely unrestored, but logic says...

I know the seller, a real gentleman and does superb work - straight shooter all the way - he is a devoted collector and restorer of straight razors, doesn't use them IIRC, but it's been his hobby for 30 years or so - he's only now starting to sell off some the 4,000 plus razors he owns - we correspond occasionally, he's had them all.....:)

edit to add - he's a real nice guy, ask him anything about his razors and he's happy to answer...

No way to know. The razor looks great in the photos, but the photos aren't really great for showing the razor. The blade is either too over or under exposed to get a really good idea of what it looks like. No fault of the seller, mind you.

Good to hear that some one has had some experience with the seller. I was only commenting on how pristine the razor is. Would love to own it but would have to get it far below what he's asking if I want to continue to have a wife...

Whom ever decides to pull the trigger will have a very nice razor.

Nice, but too pricey for me !!
Attachment 206741
Attachment 206742

It's in fabulous shape but the pics are taken to show it in the best possible way. You can make out spotting near the stabilizer in a couple of the shots, what you would expect on a razor this old. There could be more of the same but lost in the reflections. Not an unreasonable asking price for this type of razor.

Scales are dyed horn. It's difficult to judge on the blade without inspecting it, but +1 the lines are clean and sharp.

I agree with the other commenters, that the scales are not true tortoiseshell but stained cows horn. It is difficult to judge from the photos, I would to see them in person, but it does look like the stain has penetrated into the horn when usually it is just the surface that is stained (and hence easily rubbed off).

So is eBay allowing listing of tortoise shell now ?

Quote:

---

The razor looks great in the photos, but the photos aren't really great for showing the razor.

---

Man, I really like this sentence...the twisted clarity of it. It makes me feel pretty good that I learned something new today. This is kind of an expanded Thanks and I think it is highly instructive as it clears the view between what we want to see from what we are seeing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by onimaru55

So is eBay allowing listing of tortoise shell now ?

---

I would be surprised if they are since they made me pull a listing that I listed something made from bone. I even stated it wasn't ivory and still had to pull it a reword it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by onimaru55

So is eBay allowing listing of tortoise shell now ?

---

I think not but if they actually don't spell it out the system doesn't pick it up

Same as ivory only listed as natural scales not specifically ivory or shell

Hate artsy photos in straight razor auctions... I want photos to basically be like mugshots. Hard profile, hard profile, head on to see the grind, back scale close up, front scale close up, top of the blade's tang in pivot, bottom of tang in pivot to see rust, spine, and blade closed halfway in the scales with no hands to see how centered it is feeding in.. And a pic on a paper scale. No games...

And it was worked on because all old sheffields have hone wear... All of them do... I got a damn near nos rodgers from italy once and even that did... If you put that on a stone without tape you'd know pretty quickly how many hones it has actually ridden across as Elliott ground their blades pretty tidy for a sheffield maker.