Thread: Bingham's Criterion

Anyone know anything about the maker? Any guesses to age? I was thinking 1830's or 1840's based on the tail. But I don't know that I've ever seen a grind like this on a razor that old.

What do you guys think?

I'm not clear from that photo. Is that a sort of uber-frameback?

I don't have her in hand yet, but I think it's kind of like the W&B Feather Edge, where only the bottom part of the blade is "hollow ground."

All I know is the later Tally Ho razors have a Bingham stamp on the tang. I guess they took over from Fenney.
Fenney made razors from 1824-1852 so they were surely contemporaries.

I'd say 1830 would be about correct. I saw a Warranted at an antique store in Tampa a few years ago that had that same grind. I remember the accompanying literature for Warranted with the blade saying it was from 1830 or something.

I have a razor with a similar grind that was made between 1820-1830. The WR and crown dates that razor from 1830-1837.

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...overeigns.html

I think the heel has been ground, possibly to remove a chip; The grind is different, but I have a WR (that you sold me, interestingly enough) with a similar blade profile except the edge tapers back up to the tang.

Edit: Hehe, I hit quick reply before reading all the posts... Note the blade in the post above this one.

C. T. Bingham took over the Tally Ho works (some sources say 1850, others 1862) at Division Street, Sheffield. Formerly the works were owned by Frederick Fenney (who is mentioned in an 1852 gazeteer, so he was still alive then) whose famous trademark was a running fox and the "Tally Ho" logo. When C T Bingham took over the running fox trademark was retained and under the stamp "CT Bingham" on the tang was "Late F Fenney" although I suppose this disappeared after some time. However, without the running fox stamp I don't think CT Bingham could have been the maker unless the firm was in operation prior to taking over from Fenney (which would make the date more likely).

It's more likely made by James Bingham, who also made a razor with "James Binghams Universally Approved Congruent Razor, 8 New Church St., Sheffield" stamped on it. I base this purely on the "Criterion" and "Congruent" trade marks and what looks like a partial 'J' stamped before 'Bingham' on the actual razor. James Bingham is mentioned in a Sheffiled gazeteer of 1829. He is also listed in a Civil Engineers journal of 1839.

Regards,
Neil