Thread: Rare razors

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Great info, Jamie! Wherever did you find that?

Came via Neil Miller Tom, I once owned the same exact razor they also made them with Ivory scales.

Originally Posted by celticcrusader

Came via Neil Miller Tom, I once owned the same exact razor they also made them with Ivory scales.

Was painfully obvious, Jamie!

Yea, I knew from Neil and Jamie about the history. Just wanted to see if any others would tweek onto the stainless steel aspect. I don't think many realize just how long stainless steel has been with us in one alloy or another.

Bob

The Cutlers Hall has a unique fine collection of exhibition or showpieces which were designed to show off the individual cutlers skills and/or to advertise the quality of a particular firm. Some were "shop window" knives & others were produced for the large 19th century trade exhibitions & also some were intended as presentation examples for important dignitaries. On occasion they appear to have been made simply for the pleasure of producing something different in the cutlers own time which may be why some were not stamped with the makers name, usually knives but I suspect razors also. Because of their rarity, some of these knives have become highly prized by collectors.
These exhibition pieces could have been giant or minute & could have many blades or just one. There is one fine 19th century piece in particular, a pearl pocket knife with silver end caps, unfortunately unmarked of the cutlers name & shows such fascination these cutlers had for adding as many blades as possible, 52 blades! Of course it wasn't made for everyday use. Fitting together such complicated knives was a highly skilled job & required great patience from the cutler & the filing along with the final assembly of the piece. Included in the display at Cutlers Hall is a tortoiseshell folding knife made by Joseph Rodgers & Sons most likely in the 19th century & has 24 blades. More recent is a replica of a gold handbag penknife presented by W.G. Ibberson to Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to Cutlers Hall on October 27, 1954. Such a piece was a folding knife with 1 blade & a glovehook & was made a Ibberson's Rockingham Street Works by leading craftsmen Ted Osborne & Stan Shaw. The presentation case also includes a yachting knife made for the Duke of Edinburg.
Other items of such cutlery also included scissors & offered a challenge for Sheffield skills. This collection has some exquisite examples of 19th Century scissors. An unusual pair (Sheffield made) were in the shape of a stork. I saw some awhile back on the bay & I should have gotten them. Now there are many types of these from Germany, Italy, China & Morley even made some.
This goes on & on. I found this information in my book "From Mesters To Masters".

Here is a couple interesting videos, one with Stan Shaw & the other is the oldest knife maker in the USA.

A total of 6 minutes 45 seconds, Stan Shaw starts at 2 minutes 40 seconds & goes to the end of this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcJmA0-QaLQ

John N. Cooper, oldest knife maker in the USA~If I heard it right, he is in Lufkin, TX.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYL30sqLifs

If anyone ever saw The Iron Mistress with Alan Ladd, he makes a copy of the Bowie knife like in the movie.

Sorry, I didn't mean to go off topic. I found those video's interesting & I have more on Stan Shaw but it doesn't belong in this thread. He is a very fascinating man & the Last of the Little Mesters. Should I write more on him, I will put it in the appropriate place.

I suppose one off customs are rare.
My T.I done up by Max.P
I haven't even shaved with this one yet

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Indeed, Ed, I would consider, say, a Wade and Butcher to be quite common but the same razor, stamped for a retailer who is quite obscure, would make it more rare to see.

For instance this razor was obviously sold by Harry & Co of Chicago. The maker's mark on the reverse tang shows a maker's mark, yet I have yet to find the maker or anything of Harry & Co.

I do have to think it is quite rare, however?

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Hey Tom, I found it on here. I looked around here the other day & I think they are in a box but I was looking for a razor to show outback & I came across the one I suspected of having that triangle stamp like yours & they're identical! Look here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...ml#post1494900

Originally Posted by engine46

Hey Tom, I found it on here. I looked around here the other day & I think they are in a box but I was looking for a razor to show outback & I came across the one I suspected of having that triangle stamp like yours & they're identical! Look here:

http://straightrazorpalace.com/show-...ml#post1494900

Most cool, Steve! A quandary still exists, however one question seems to have been answered!
Your razor has Solingen, and was sold elsewhere (Italy), as was mine (Chicago).
We now know to look to Solingen! (No surprise!)

That blade is sweet!

Originally Posted by sharptonn

Most cool, Steve! A quandary still exists, however one question seems to have been answered!
Your razor has Solingen, and was sold elsewhere (Italy), as was mine (Chicago).
We now know to look to Solingen! (No surprise!)

That blade is sweet!

I knew I had seen it & then I saw the razor one day but forgot which thread it was on until the other day so I started looking for it. I also have certain attachments documented to myself in an email & I came across 'em. I have them, possibly boxed up for now.