Thread: Joseph Rodgers and Sons Razor and kit - can someone help me understand?

That's a very nice bit of kit!

The razor looks to be 1840's-1860's and reground to be hollow. It would help if you could get a picture of the text stamped into the tang of the razor.

My strong suspicion is that the razor was added to the kit, or there are missing boxes. A true shaving kit of that sort should have included a brush for lather, and a fitted box to keep the razor (probably originally multiple razors) secure.

Unfortunately, it won't really be possible to find a replacement for whatever stored the razor. They were handmade items and the fitted boxes had their cutouts made for the exact razor that went into it.

The scales on the razor and the long brush's handle are ivory.

The more I look at it, the more I think it was not originally a shaving kit. But there were so many different kinds of these, with such a huge variety of options, it's hard to say for sure.

Joseph Rodgers & Sons were the snootiest of the old Sheffield cutlery firms, and very successful in all regards. Very proud of their royal warrant (that 'Cutlers to Her Majesty' note on the bottom). They produced a wide variety of luxury goods. This would have been on the lower end of things, but that's still higher end than many manufacturers. They were in business from 1725 to 1968.