As promised, site is up for Makers Marks

Hi all, it's nothing new as far as concept or delivery, but it's been a pet project of mine and I'd brought it up briefly, so here it is finally. I've started a blog / site to catalog my collection, but of main focus is a high-resolution picture catalog of makers marks. The idea is to have an easy-to-navigate reference of common and uncommon marks, maybe for comparison with your own, or whatever you want. Hopefully it will be useful to someone. It will be vastly expanding in the next few weeks as I finish photographing and cataloging.

The site is still ugly in parts as it is under major construction, but the parts that are up now should be useful. I'd love to add marks if anyone wants to provide images, but I'm going to play it like Apple and control the content, so I will make a stipulation that it should match the format of what is already up, i.e. it should be framed the same, hi-resolution, and a separate picture for each separate mark on the blade. Maybe we can make a large catalogue if people want to contribute. Just an idea, I'll work out kinks later.

Let me know what you think. And please let me know if there are any factual errors that you find.

http://acierfondu.wordpress.com (all content so far is through the menu at the top)

A Thanks is not enough for this kind of work. When I begin to get a little bored with the Forum it is members like you and a small handful of others that keep me coming back, keep me dreaming of the Holy Grail du jour, and keep me making questionable decisions regarding this worthy pursuit.......altruism is in short supply these days....thanks again.

Great idea! I might be able to contribute some as well.

Very cool. Just a couple of minutes on there, and I learned a few things about razors that I have. Your collection is most impressive.
Thanks.

Very cool. Thank you. I have bookmarked it.


Mike

Very cool resource!

Bookmarked. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much for your hard work!!

Thank-you for the great resource.

In terms of contributions, you mention hi-res shots hosted at another site.

Are you open to having members send you any pics of various marks / razors with relevant info and adding them to the directory yourself? For instance an unusual Greaves, a George Brittain, or other somewhat unique razors?

Bookmarked and beautiful site design.

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Originally Posted by Phrank

Thank-you for the great resource.

In terms of contributions, you mention hi-res shots hosted at another site.

Are you open to having members send you any pics of various marks / razors with relevant info and adding them to the directory yourself? For instance an unusual Greaves, a George Brittain, or other somewhat unique razors?

Bookmarked and beautiful site design.

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Sorry if it wasn't too clear. I just figured it would be easy to upload them temporarily, like to Imgur or something, then I could download and upload through the blog. But email works too, I was just concerned about file sizes. I'm looking for anything really, it's sometimes just as nice to have all the really unusual marks as it is to have an armful of very common stamps - for the latter, for example, you can see that the arrow on the Wade & Butcher mark sometimes has 3, 4, or 5 fletchings.

And I've already done a number of overhauls to my format, please let me know if there's anything you want to see added or problems with the structure as it is. Glad it's well received.

Man, that is great! I love it. What a great contribution to the community of straight razors & I also bookmarked it for future reference. I know this site will grow with more contributors. I have one for sure to contribute when I get the chance to so if I have one, I might have more. I need to register on imagur.com.

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Originally Posted by engine46

Man, that is great! I love it. What a great contribution to the community of straight razors & I also bookmarked it for future reference. I know this site will grow with more contributors. I have one for sure to contribute when I get the chance to so if I have one, I might have more. I need to register on imagur.com.

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Registration shouldn't be necessary if you don't want to. But dropbox works too, or really anything to get the pics transferred.

Lots of fun building a site. A lot like getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick. You did great and I am sure this is going to keep you busy for some time. I think it will be one great resource for sure. Thanks for for contributing to our hobby in such a big way :<0)

Fantastic resource.
Thank you.

Obviously you have a lot of marks to add and I assume you'll get a lot of contributions to that. BTW, I noticed the American razors are lacking marks such as Case, Genco, Torrey, and Lewis!

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Originally Posted by Utopian

Obviously you have a lot of marks to add and I assume you'll get a lot of contributions to that. BTW, I noticed the American razors are lacking marks such as Case, Genco, Torrey, and Lewis!

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:) Thanks. At this point I'm trying to limit it to earlier razors, I think there is already ample documentation of later factory-produced razors, but not a lot (at least consolidated) on early American razors.

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Originally Posted by 10Pups

Lots of fun building a site. A lot like getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick. You did great and I am sure this is going to keep you busy for some time. I think it will be one great resource for sure. Thanks for for contributing to our hobby in such a big way :<0)

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Speaking of starting a site......
Do you know a guy???
Who has a distinct and unique skill set??

Who knows a guy.????

Some stamp pics for your site...

Wade Butcher Anchor
Attachment 183560

Celebrated Feather Edge
Attachment 183561

I'll post the Diamond edge etc once they come back from Glen.

Bookmarking your site!

Hi,

maybe a long shot, but here are some references which maybe are useful for the early razors "LONDON" and "HAGUE"

Attachment 183770
Attachment 183771

Lindley Samuel was a razor maker in Atterclif (nearby Sheffield)
Staniforth, Parkin & Co were butcher knifes and butcher steel makers (sorry, nothing directly linked to razors)

Both references are found in the Gales and Martin Directory 1787

Actually, Staniforth, Parkin, and Co. made quite a wide variety of things, including razors. Their HAGUE / SHEMEL mark was listed under Pen and Pocket knives in general. They're listed again for making razors, but using the mark SHEMEL / PARKIN, and then once more for making table knives (with separate entries for silver plated and regular) with a set of crossed keys under a trident over PARKIN / SHEMEL.

Most likely, HAGUE was a mark owned by someone else in the company that was used prior to the 1787 directory.

The London mark is right on, though!

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Originally Posted by Voidmonster

Actually, Staniforth, Parkin, and Co. made quite a wide variety of things, including razors. Their HAGUE / SHEMEL mark was listed under Pen and Pocket knives in general. They're listed again for making razors, but using the mark SHEMEL / PARKIN, and then once more for making table knives (with separate entries for silver plated and regular) with a set of crossed keys under a trident over PARKIN / SHEMEL.

Most likely, HAGUE was a mark owned by someone else in the company that was used prior to the 1787 directory.

The London mark is right on, though!

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Indeed, overlooked that! :)

I'm not convinced about the LONDON yet. The tang stamp looks like 'IN LONDON', and would match the spine stamp. I know there is an 'IN PARIS' stamp, is there documentation of anything like that with London?

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Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

I'm not convinced about the LONDON yet. The tang stamp looks like 'IN LONDON', and would match the spine stamp. I know there is an 'IN PARIS' stamp, is there documentation of anything like that with London?

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Not quite there I guess...
At this moment I have no more information,

Could the partial stamp above LONDON (on the tang) be a crown or something like that?

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Originally Posted by Fikira

Not quite there I guess...
At this moment I have no more information,

Could the partial stamp above LONDON (on the tang) be a crown or something like that?

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As best I can make it out, I think it's 'IN'. This would corroborate with what looks like "IN LONDON" on the spine stamp, and I know some makers from the period had similar stamps, e.g. "IN PARIS".

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Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

I'm not convinced about the LONDON yet. The tang stamp looks like 'IN LONDON', and would match the spine stamp. I know there is an 'IN PARIS' stamp, is there documentation of anything like that with London?

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Well, maybe a push in the right direction :D
I have found another "IN LONDON"

Attachment 205245

After a minor clean-up:

Attachment 205246Attachment 205247Attachment 205248

Also:

From a "Unwin J." document:

The relationship between the London and Sheffield cutlers had always been somewhat prickly, with the Londoners justifiably annoyed at Sheffield cutlers trying to capitalise on their position as makers of quality cutlery. Twenty-five Sheffield craftsmen registered marks with the word ‘LONDON’, with or without other words such as, ‘IN’ or ‘CITY’ or with symbols such as a cross. All but five were for cutlers and range in date from 1708 to 1772, with more being registered in the 1730s than in other decades. However, as Sheffield’s prestige rose with the improving quality of its knife production, the registering of another placename tended to backfire. The last person to register the mark with the word ‘LONDON’ was Samuel Lindley in 1772

This makes that the maker of these razors is:
Geo. (?) George Elliot (?) and that he was of Sheffield :D, probably made between the 1730's and 1770's (or a bit later, we don't know how long this maker made razors)

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Originally Posted by Fikira

This makes that the maker of these razors is:
Geo. (?) George Elliot (?) and that he was of Sheffield :D, probably made between the 1730's and 1770's (or a bit later, we don't know how long this maker made razors)

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Also, in Sheffield, Mr. Manwaring GREEN (son of John GREEN, tailor), was an apprentice for 8 years since 1738, earning his Freedom in 1746, with Master George ELLIOT, cutler, if this is "our" George ELLIOT, cutler, he would have worked at least around 1738

And, also in "Hallamshire cutlers", there is a George Elliot, (1) son of Thomas, apprenticed to Dalton Cornelius, cutler, F 1734 (fits the description above), (2) F 1751, (3) F 1764

One "pickle" with these last onces: this is Elliott, not Elliot...

I have one here which appears to say Shemield! Maybe it's my eyes...........
Attachment 205287

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Originally Posted by engine46

I have one here which appears to say Shemield! Maybe it's my eyes...........
Attachment 205287

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Nice! Can't put my finger on it who... (at this moment)
Couple of Shemield cutlers found,
but from 17th century/begin - mid 18th century, this would seem more like 1810 - '20 IMHO

Here is a similar one to the Rodgers frameback on your site:

Attachment 205292

And this Elliot, "Damascus" razor, unfortunately, looks like the belly of this beauty was honed out in the past:

Attachment 205293

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Originally Posted by Fikira

Nice! Can't put my finger on it who... (at this moment)
Couple of Shemield cutlers found,
but from 17th century/begin - mid 18th century, this would seem more like 1810 - '20 IMHO

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I can agree with that!

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Originally Posted by Fikira

Also, in Sheffield, Mr. Manwaring GREEN (son of John GREEN, tailor), was an apprentice for 8 years since 1738, earning his Freedom in 1746, with Master George ELLIOT, cutler, if this is "our" George ELLIOT, cutler, he would have worked at least around 1738

And, also in "Hallamshire cutlers", there is a George Elliot, (1) son of Thomas, apprenticed to Dalton Cornelius, cutler, F 1734 (fits the description above), (2) F 1751, (3) F 1764

One "pickle" with these last onces: this is Elliott, not Elliot...

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I don't know how I'd missed this post, thanks for turning that up. It might not be a 'pickle', as a lot of the early books and registries contain errors. It could be that they put an extra T there where it wasn't supposed to be.

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Originally Posted by ScienceGuy

I don't know how I'd missed this post, thanks for turning that up. It might not be a 'pickle', as a lot of the early books and registries contain errors. It could be that they put an extra T there where it wasn't supposed to be.

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;) :beer1:
Gladly done!

Indeed, apparently they liked doing such things :hmmm: