Thread: A diamond in the rough.

I had to fly to Chicago last night for a funeral today. After the funeral I had some time to kill and went into a shop in the suburbs. I zeroed in on this display and my heart went pity-pat when I saw the Stub tail.

I like these old ones so I bought it. It is a Broomhead Acier Fondu (cast steel) razor from the late 1700's-early 1800's.


I'm hopeful someone can tell me more about this one. Is it Sheffield for the French market?
Any info is appreciated as I have searched both this site and Google and have not been able to find much. Thanks.

Sheffield razor probably after 1800 and probably before 1820.
The Broomheads that I've seen before 1800 all said Warranted on them.
And the term Acier Fondu went out of style around 1820. The term was used on both French and English razors.

From an older Neil Miller post:
" Joseph & Benjamin Broomhead, brothers, of Fargate, Sheffield. They appear in Sketchley's 1774 Directory and Bailey's 1781 Directory. Benjamin Broomhead was Master Cutler in 1787, but the original listing of the firm shows them as factors - no doubt they made razors under their own name too, though.

When Benjamin died in 1796 the firm became Broomhead and Rutherford, the old mark being retained. There is a listing for Joseph Broomhead, 1817, but no other details are to be found.

They had another brother, Samuel Broomhead, famous for the pistol corporate mark. With his apprentice Joseph Ward they formed Broomhead & Ward.
"

Nice find.

Mike

Very nice find!
Wish I could come across a display such as that in my area.....
Wonder what he would have taken for the whole lot?

lol

As you can see my initials are inscribed on the scales, that razor was stolen from me a while ago. Send it back to me and I won't call the SRP police.

Nice score mate
Several treasures I that box it looks like

Originally Posted by criswilson10

Sheffield razor probably after 1800 and probably before 1820.
The Broomheads that I've seen before 1800 all said Warranted on them.
And the term Acier Fondu went out of style around 1820. The term was used on both French and English razors.

From an older Neil Miller post:
" Joseph & Benjamin Broomhead, brothers, of Fargate, Sheffield. They appear in Sketchley's 1774 Directory and Bailey's 1781 Directory. Benjamin Broomhead was Master Cutler in 1787, but the original listing of the firm shows them as factors - no doubt they made razors under their own name too, though.

When Benjamin died in 1796 the firm became Broomhead and Rutherford, the old mark being retained. There is a listing for Joseph Broomhead, 1817, but no other details are to be found.

They had another brother, Samuel Broomhead, famous for the pistol corporate mark. With his apprentice Joseph Ward they formed Broomhead & Ward.
"

Thank you for the info. I appreciate it

Originally Posted by markbignosekelly

As you can see my initials are inscribed on the scales, that razor was stolen from me a while ago. Send it back to me and I won't call the SRP police.

I had already reported the vandalism of this two hundred year old classic to the SRP police. Thank you for your confession[emoji12]

The shape of the blade suggest mid to late 1700's. Very nice find.

whoa what suburb/shop was this??? I think I've scoured most places in the chicagoland area.