Thread: Two new wedges

Thank you Neil , and Manah . The fellow who sold it to me , told me it's a Chinese razor . I didn't believe him , since I could plainly see that the razor was made in Sheffield . But now I wonder if England may have been exporting razors to China or if maybe China was exporting the blades to England , for the different cutlers to sell under their own brand , and the characters on the blades were the mark of the manufacturer in China . That could explain why razors from 2 different cutlers have the same characters stamped on the blades .

I see that Colley & Co. had moved from 98 Arundel St. to 9 Eyre La. , by 1841 . That would date my razor to sometime between 1834 , and 1841 .

It's not Chinese alphabet, it's symbols/ornament, looks like the part of the Chinese language.
W & B made razors with very similar symbols:


"This "Chinese Razor" was probably made for Chinese-American immigrant market during the 1850s. The symbols on the blade are not part of the Chinese language".
Standart Guide to Razors.

P.S. About two years ago, we discussed such razors on the forum.

Hi guys: even though I'm a fan of full hollow grind, these look really nice.

Thanks for sharing pics.

Regards, Jazor.

hier is my Colley in best for 10 Euro

Hi Strawinski,
is the stamp on the tang 2 pipes crossing each other?
Would these be stub tail razors?
Thanks for sharing your wonderful find.

This gorgeous specimen went through eBay a little while back. I was outbid, but nabbed the pictures from the auction page before they died of bit rot.

The blade says 'Manufactured for Richard Plummer Baltimore'.

Richard Plummer of Baltimore was a successful business man and prominent Quaker. Whether this was a trade model used to sell more Colley razors, or made specifically for Richard Plummer's use, I do not know. I've been unable to find anything about what sort of business Mr. Plummer did (though I do know he sold books). He was related to Johns Hopkins. The razor was probably made at some point between 1830 and 1840 which seems to be about when Mr. Plummer first came to prominence, though he lived into the 1870's.

His wife, Elizabeth Hicks, was the daughter of the American folk painter Edward Hicks, another famous Quaker.

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

This gorgeous specimen went through eBay a little while back. I was outbid, but nabbed the pictures from the auction page before they died of bit rot.

The blade says 'Manufactured for Richard Plummer Baltimore'.

Richard Plummer of Baltimore was a successful business man and prominent Quaker. Whether this was a trade model used to sell more Colley razors, or made specifically for Richard Plummer's use, I do not know. I've been unable to find anything about what sort of business Mr. Plummer did (though I do know he sold books). He was related to Johns Hopkins. The razor was probably made at some point between 1830 and 1840 which seems to be about when Mr. Plummer first came to prominence, though he lived into the 1870's.

His wife, Elizabeth Hicks, was the daughter of the American folk painter Edward Hicks, another famous Quaker.

Gorgeous razor Voidmonster,
thanks for sharing and the background history.
I would love one of those one day.

Originally Posted by bonitomio

Gorgeous razor Voidmonster,
thanks for sharing and the background history.
I would love one of those one day.

Me too! I really wish I'd had more money to spend on that auction.

However, I did get a pretty good consolation prize which I'll be posting about as soon as it's in my hands.

Very nice, I am on the hunt for a nice 17-early 1800's razor.