Thread: 19th century Ebay razor? Please, help me identify this.

I'm hoping some here will be able to shed some light on a razor I purchased off Ebay.
It's a razor that looks to be made out of stainless and after having received it, proves to be in great shape. However, there are absolutely no markings on the blade indicating where it was made, with the only marking on the stainless (?) handle with a snake and a crown.

I'll include the description from the seller as well as some photos. Hopefully, someone may have run across one of these before. As for the box, there's never any proof that it originally came with the razor, but the seller indicates that it did.

Thanks in advance!

[19th century Russian Army Officer's straight razor. This straight razor was issued to the Czar's officers in the late 19th century. Comes with its two compartment case, one compartment for the razor in use and the other for the one sent out to be sharpened. Note debossed markings on case. Not pristine but razor in pretty good shape, case somewhat tattered and stained.]

WOW .... Russian razors are not often, if not really rarely, covered in the literature. I think you may have a collectible prize.

daviduthe

Originally Posted by Hungryboxerdog

I'm hoping some here will be able to shed some light on a razor I purchased off Ebay.
It's a razor that looks to be made out of stainless and after having received it, proves to be in great shape. However, there are absolutely no markings on the blade indicating where it was made, with the only marking on the stainless (?) handle with a snake and a crown.

I'll include the description from the seller as well as some photos. Hopefully, someone may have run across one of these before. As for the box, there's never any proof that it originally came with the razor, but the seller indicates that it did.

Thanks in advance!

[19th century Russian Army Officer's straight razor. This straight razor was issued to the Czar's officers in the late 19th century. Comes with its two compartment case, one compartment for the razor in use and the other for the one sent out to be sharpened. Note debossed markings on case. Not pristine but razor in pretty good shape, case somewhat tattered and stained.]

Now is it me or ......
Tszars were rulers of the old Russia, pre WW1 for the ease of things.
The symbols used would have been Ceryllic?

In that time frame, and after seeing Reval is a place in Estonia my guess would be old Prussian (Germany, Kaizer Wilhelm).

That was my 2 bits of info on this.

Luck on finding more info,
Hoekie

I was about to make the same remark about cyrilic markings...

Originally Posted by superfly

I was about to make the same remark about cyrilic markings...

My read was, if the case is original to the instrument, they were made in Germany under contract to the Russian royals .....

European history is one of the things on my list to get around to, but weren't the pre-WW1 European royal families all somewhat related ..... like over-and-over-again

Never thought I'd ever use this stuff during history classes. lol

But ok.

As with all Royalties, yes, inbreds often. :-D

But if you look at history, 19th century, this either means early (which I doubt because of e.g. the full metal razor, metal was used for arms) and during the Napoleon era, making it very unlikely, or the latter half of that century.

If it were the latter part of the century and we were in the middle of The Prussian wars, ultimately causing WW1. Again quite unlikely.

Then the engraving, a crown and a snake.
A crown only would have been used for items used by the royalty. To the best of my knowledge those days were the last generation of Romanovs, and the "R" was used to symbolise this (probably in Cyrillic). Considering this, the snake is not logical either, as the Romanovs used a double-headed-eagle.

Let me ask a question as well.

How many full metal razors do you know from that time period, but than in the US? If any, wouldn't they have been decorated to emphasize it's value? Together with that, how much ore would be "wasted" (in the eyes of a ruler) if such a gigantic army would be issued full metal razors (even if just the officers)?

If it is from that time period, and from that area, your best chance would be in the "Austria-Hungary" corner (but again the doubts because of the razor being completely metal).

Just some thoughts.

Hoekie

That razor looks awesome, but yeah, despite my limited knowledge, it doesn't really appear as though it's from that era. I'm curious to know its real origins, though.

Thanks for the info so far.

As for the razor being stainless, in retrospect I believe I was incorrect. On the handle near the pivot pin, there's a speck of rust, as well as what appears to be a very inconspicuous yet noticeable-upon-close-inspection spot of "bubbling" on the inside of the scale that I've seen before on items that were plated, especially nickel plated.

I'm going to glean more info from the web, but there's not a whole lot to go on when all you've got is a symbol of a snake, scepter and crown. I might contact the seller out of curiousity and ask were they obtained their info. As for a shaver, it easily developed a keen edge after a few swipes on a paddle strop with .5 micron paste and gave a wonderful shave. I'm quite please with the razor, which cost me $30.

Thanks again for the help and any additional info anyone may be able to offer.

Whoever made it, thats a nice looking razor. I had an old French army straight that had a metal handle like that, but it is long gone so don't know if it had a symbol or not. Also isn't a snake on a pole sortof a universal medical symbol?
Anyway nice razor, let us know if you find anything else about it.
John P.

Yeah, either way, it's a nice looking razor.

If it turns out it was made by a Paki or something, just continue to tell people a made up story.

Maybe a Russian soldier was carrying it on his person in October of 1917, and because he had been up all night participating in a vodka drinking competition with his comrades, he was hung over and hardly saw the pitchfork coming.