Thread: Is it any Spanish hones?

Razor hones have been quarried in Spain in the past, although apart from the hones in the link, I'm not aware of any that are still being offered today.

In Studies of Historical Geography & History of Geography Linares mentions hones coming from Villaverde that furnished an international market (although he doesn't give anymore details, unfortunately,) as well as razor hones quarried near Pino.

In A Geological Description of the Province of Oviedo the author mentions a seam of siliceous rock which is fine enough to furnish hones, but he doesn't give any information about commercial exploitation of the rock, so the area might never have been worked.

In A History of Political Economy of Aragon the author mention a quarry of grey slate near Calcena which produced razor hones which were, seemingly, highly esteemed in their time.

Finally, a number of Gazetteers make mention of a quarry of blue stone near Alanis, which was used to make razor hones.

I found these references in a single afternoon, when my wife and I had a free afternoon in Madrid. I'm sure that my research was hindered by my embarassingly bad ability to pick up any foreign language, so I am sure that there are more hones that were worked in Spain than these few that I have been able to find.

Hope this is of some help to you.

Kindest regards,
Alex

Originally Posted by Absur

Thanks for the info. But has Spain ever produced any water hones for razors or barberhones?

traditionally the barbers used to use coticules or barber hones made in other countries

A S and du121 thanks for good posting

One other type of razor hone quarried in Spain, that I forgot to mention were the hones known as Laminium or Flaming hones. These stones were mentioned in one of the earliest mineralogies, that authored by Pliny, pre 100 AD. Pliny names the area of origin as Near Spain, in relation to the contemporary bounds of the Roman Empire. This type of hone was used in barber shops of the time, and was lubricated using human saliva. Examples have been found in Pompeii.

Kindest regards,
Alex