"Green" Escher....Just Green...

Hello All,

I was wondering if anyone can help me make sense of what this is?... I just acquired an interesting Escher that I'm waiting to be shipped to me. As you can see, most if not all of the rear label is in tact, which is nice. What struck me as odd though, is that the side "color" label says "Grun", or Green. Not yellow-green, not light-green, not blue-green; just green....:hmmm:

AFAIK there is no such stone as a "Green Escher", or is there such a thing? Could this label just be an anomaly, or even a fake? I can't imagine someone going thru the effort to fake an Escher label, though...The rear label looks to be legit, but I admittedly do not know a whole heck of a lot about Eschers, so I truthfully am not sure...:shrug: The stone itself IS greenish in color, and is almost a 2-tone stone with a darker bottom half (see pics...sorry for the poor quality!!)

Has anyone seen anything like this before? In truth I suspect that the stone is legit, but the side label is throwing me for a loop!! Any info you fine gents may have would be greatly appreciated!!!

Here are a few pics:

Attachment 146319Attachment 146320Attachment 146321

I had a similar Escher (green with blackish back) but without that Label.
Maybe the Stone was declined as Grün (Green) in Germany for use on the german market,
and later relabeled with the big Label on english for the anglo-american market without replacing the first Grün sticker.

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Originally Posted by Rockabillyhelge

I had a similar Escher (green with blackish back) but without that Label.
Maybe the Stone was declined as Grün (Green) in Germany for use on the german market,
and later relabeled with the big Label on english for the anglo-american market without replacing the first Grün sticker.

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That's an interesting observation!! I didn't stop to think about the fact that the big label is in English, while the small color label is in German. Seems like they should match, right? It's also strange that there's no "E & Co." on the color label like you normally see.....hmmmm...

Your theory is distinctly possible....Maybe it was re-labeled at some point? Anyway it's a very interesting stone for sure and I am excited to receive it!

here are some better pics:

Attachment 146323Attachment 146324

Well, i found another Escher here in the SRP with an english big label and a german colour-label:
http://straightrazorpalace.com/hones...harpening.html
The only Thing that is unusual in my eyes is the style of the Label, most colour-labels show floral looking border with an E & Co. sign on the lower side of the label.
But that doesnt mean that its a fake, its only a sticker and Escher had a big business, who knows why in this case an other sticker than usual was used, maybe a defile shortage or a mistake in the print department of the company, there are thousand posible reasons :-)
Grün (Green) seems to be a usual discription and should compare with Light Green in the anglo-american Export Version.
Attachment 146326

Thank you for the info, Rockabilly!! Yeah you really don't hear about people "faking" Escher labels ever, so I don't think it's a fabricated sticker. Perhaps it's as you said, some sort of anomalous label that found its way onto a stone....If it's indeed a real Escher (which I think it is) then the presence of this sticker probably makes it a rarity!!

But yeah, the absence of the "E&Co" is somewhat troubling....anyway we shall see...I will post a report of my impressions of the stone when I have a chance to use it!

Im sure youll like it, the green Thuringians/Escher are fine stones with a high quality in making an smooth edge,
after i sold my Escher (i was young and needed the money, maybe the biggest mistake i made thinking about stones)
i have another big green Thuringian (possibly a Frankonian) remaining and i love it, never had a softer shave before :-)

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Originally Posted by jpcwon

That's an interesting observation!! I didn't stop to think about the fact that the big label is in English, while the small color label is in German. Seems like they should match, right? It's also strange that there's no "E & Co." on the color label like you normally see.....hmmmm...

Your theory is distinctly possible....Maybe it was re-labeled at some point? Anyway it's a very interesting stone for sure and I am excited to receive it!

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I've seen the end label in German with the back label in English and visa versa. Look at the price list posted earlier and realize that was per dozen ! IOW, they weren't "anal" about these things the way that we are. Poor J.G. Escher and his sohns would be turning over in their graves if they knew what one of the their stones is selling for now. :)

I've not seen a "grun" label before, but a collector (non shaver/honer) of Eschers told me that he had one or more. So FWIW, they seem to be 'known.' I do have a y/g that I know is from around 1905 and it does not have the "E&Co" on the end label. Just Gelb-Grun with the thick border like your grun. Nice catch, enjoy it. :gl:

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

I've seen the end label in German with the back label in English and visa versa. Look at the price list posted earlier and realize that was per dozen ! IOW, they weren't "anal" about these things the way that we are. Poor J.G. Escher and his sohns would be turning over in their graves if they knew what one of the their stones is selling for now. :)

I've not seen a "grun" label before, but a collector (non shaver/honer) of Eschers told me that he had one or more. So FWIW, they seem to be 'known.' I do have a y/g that I know is from around 1905 and it does not have the "E&Co" on the end label. Just Gelb-Grun with the thick border like your grun. Nice catch, enjoy it. :gl:

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Awesome, thanks for the info, Jimmy!! I will indeed enjoy it! :)

I don't have an answer for your label question. All I can say is, nice stone!

Don't worry about the labels on your Escher stone - looks great and from the pictures seems like the real stuff!
The language on Escher labels is often mixed german/ english and not only as a translation. Sometimes the descritption is english and the company name is written in german or vice versa. On the following example there is an intersting grammatical mixture, the whole description is german, the name Escher Sons is written J.G. Escher Sohn's, so the expression son is in german but with the plural ending ..s in english language (german would be "Söhne").

Attachment 146450


Intersting is that the color stated is green, because normally the colors are more precisely named with light-, yellow- or blue-green.

So there are certain possibilities for an explanation. First - the whetstone horizon of the thuringian hones exists of dozents of layers where only the best ones have been mined and used for production. These are the typicall 4 colors, the three green ones and the blue or dark blue one. There is of course also a green layer which is an intermediate between other layers. That this one was mined due to a certain time, maybe when the material of the other layers becomes rare - is one possibility.
Another possibility is that the vendor Escher didn't really know exactly from which layer the material was, that he bought from the miner. If you compare different layers especially the light and yellow green ones, it is sometimes hard to see from which layer it was mined.
At least I think at a certain time it was not that important any more if the layer was yellow or light green. Maybe the best, the yellow green stones would not have been paid more than the other stones, so there was only a distinction in a green (all the green looking hones) and a blue (blue and the typical gray hones) quality.

Anyway, I think you really got a great stone there - enjoy :beer1:

Thank you very much for the reply, hatzicho!! I have run this by some other friends of mine who are knowledgable with Eschers, and they too think that it's the real deal....I am kind of happy to know that my stone seems to be a rarely-labeled one, as you don't typically see this kind of label on Eschers....I will be sure to post how the stone performs once i have a chance to use it! :)

Well jpcwon,

I found another solution for the simple green labelling. As you see in the following price-table, which was issued in an article in a Steinacher Newspaper from 1926, some companies name the layer - what we most know and see labelled as blue green - just green.
So you have the following different qualities: blue (blau) - green (grün) - light green (hellgrün) - yellow-green (gelbgrün)

Attachment 146692

So most probably the quality of the stone you have is comparable to other blue-green labelled stones.

Vere interesting, Thanks for digging this up Hatzicho!! Here's a pic of the stone. As you can see it is a two-tone stone; the bottom layer being darker....The top definitely looks green though, maybe with a hint of blue....I can't help but think that this makes the stone somewhat rare, as you don't typically see "Green" labeled Eschers...

Attachment 146693

Attachment 146694

Great stone you've got there. Just take a shave ready blade to it and do 10-20 or 30 round trips, whatever works for that particular blade.

Some guys say 5 to 8 ...... but it really depends on the blade, the honer ...... phase of the moon. :D

Strop on leather only, maybe 25 or 30 round trips lightly and politely ....... no pastes or sprays ........ just the wonderful feel of the Escher edge on your face ........ IME. :tu

Great info Hatzicho! I have a 'two-tone' 'Blue-Green' Barber's Gem that looks just like this hone ( 5 by 2.5 inches). It is my favorite Escher, and usually my go to finisher.

WP34

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Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

Great stone you've got there. Just take a shave ready blade to it and do 10-20 or 30 round trips, whatever works for that particular blade.

Some guys say 5 to 8 ...... but it really depends on the blade, the honer ...... phase of the moon. :D

Strop on leather only, maybe 25 or 30 round trips lightly and politely ....... no pastes or sprays ........ just the wonderful feel of the Escher edge on your face ........ IME. :tu

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Thanks, Jimmy, I will give this a try! I am not exactly new to Eschers as I also have a Dark Blue, but it'll be interesting to compare the Dark Blue to this stone!

I have found that 20-30 strokes on a light slurry seems to do the trick...I will try what you suggested though...thank you!! :)