Thread: French, OLD, but I help on identification here please! A key on tang??

Hey all!

A small mystery for ya.

Looks like a key on the tang and given the overall shape of the blade/tang/scales, she looks old (turn of the 19th or earlier??). Any ideas folks?? The seller wasn't asking much for it, so I thought I would grab it on gut instinct.



Thanks,

Dan

How about just a few general opinions on this then?

Originally Posted by cheddardan

Hey all!

A small mystery for ya.

Looks like a key on the tang and given the overall shape of the blade/tang/scales, she looks old (turn of the 19th or earlier??). Any ideas folks?? The seller wasn't asking much for it, so I thought I would grab it on gut instinct.



Thanks,

Dan

I would agree dating this Razor in the Beginning / First half of the 19th Century, maybe the first three Decades cause the older, more spherical washers had been used.

Well some clues to the age would be the shortness (or lack of) a tail. Usually the shorter the tail = older. The razor having a single stabilizer is also a date indicator. There is no way to know if the tail was taken of or crafted that way or if the stabilizer is do to a regrind at some point in its life.

I would definetly lean towards it being an older razor and if it was a decent price I would of snapped it up in a heart beat. Maybe one of the history buffs will jump in here soon.

That one's a mystery, but my knowledge of French razors is poor.

I do know enough to tell you it was made some time between 1780-1810 or later in the 1800's when there was a revival of the style. (Tail length is a complicated indicator of age with French razors).

Unfortunately, a lot of old French marks are completely undocumented. See this plaque from the cutler's hall in Châtellerault. To the best of my knowledge, each symbol represented one cutler, but who that person was isn't recorded.

(I would love to learn that I'm wrong and there's a catalog of who struck each of those!)

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

That one's a mystery, but my knowledge of French razors is poor.

I do know enough to tell you it was made some time between 1780-1810 or later in the 1800's when there was a revival of the style. (Tail length is a complicated indicator of age with French razors).

Unfortunately, a lot of old French marks are completely undocumented. See this plaque from the cutler's hall in Châtellerault. To the best of my knowledge, each symbol represented one cutler, but who that person was isn't recorded.

(I would love to learn that I'm wrong and there's a catalog of who struck each of those!)

I thought about your suggestion that it might have been a revival of the style; if that were the case, do you think the mark would have been slightly more elaborate given the logo trend of the mid 19th?