Thread: John Elliot Best Silver Steel Restore named Colossus

Originally Posted by LaneC

That is beautiful. Where do you find out about the dates of manufacture?

That looks very much to my eye like it's got a V R crown on it, which places it after 1837 and before 1858 when John Elliot died.

IMHO, it's probably 1840-1850.

That style grind has a number of different names, some of which depend on whether or not that secondary hollowed 'groove' is on both sides. I'm partial to them, myself.

As for John Elliot, he was born in 1795, and operated in partnership with Joseph Elliot and might possibly have been related (it sure seems likely, but concrete answers are hard to come by on that front).

He doesn't show up in the apprentice registers (under either spelling of Elliot -- it was sometimes Elliott, which makes tracing things a bit dicey).

Unfortunately, John Elliot is just, in general, a challenge to research. The 1833 edition of White's directory lists:

John Elliot - Razor Manufacturer, H. 46 Meadow Street
John & Joseph Elliot - Razor Manufacturers, 65 Hollis Croft


There are numerous others listed as well, but chances are good that the guy who made razors wasn't also a butcher. But he may have also been a steel refiner.

It's complicated and poorly documented.

Considering the number of Joseph Elliot razors I've seen with the same design features, I think it's safe to say that was made during their partnership. I can't really tell you why he would make razors under his own name and with his partner (and possible relative), but it was definitely something that was done by others.