Thread: R.M. & CO Fine India steel - id help

So. Naturally I wonder about RM and Co?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

So. Naturally I wonder about RM and Co?

They made razors with bone and ivory scales with fine India steel blades.

Don't ask me how I know that ......

Originally Posted by sharptonn

So. Naturally I wonder about RM and Co?

There are some Sheffield possibilities:

Robert Fead Mosely & Co. R F Mosely was born in 1841 in London, moved to sheffield in 1856 where he was apprenticed by George Oates, and set up on his own account in 1861 or thereabouts. By 1871 he was at the Portland Works in Randolph Street. The name was later famous for the trial of Harry Brierly's stainless steel. However, right from the start he was labelled a scissor maker and general cutlery manufacturer, On top of that in reports of his extensive business, razors are not mentioned once (doesn't mean he didn't make them, though). The main thing which goes against him are his registered silver marks - all as 'R F M & Co' - the letter 'F' figured in each of them.

The other chap who is of some interest was Robert Morton, whose mark was indeed RM&Co as detailed in listings of his hallmarks - he was a silversmith and is famous for obtaining the first silver hallmark in Sheffield in 1773. His first mark was RM, later that year RM&Co was added. However, he seems to have been a silversmith, and he seems rather too early for that style of razor - maybe his company endured for a while, though.

Less likely is Robert Morton, b1859, foundry owner and brewers engineer who moved to Burton on Trent and founded R M & Co in 1880, a company that erected complete breweries. There is an outside possibility that the razors were made for him as gifts.

None of the above seem very likely to me. I also wonder why there is no place of origin like 'Sheffield' on the tang. Possibly RM&Co were just importers, maybe from the US, and not makers.

Regards,
Neil