Lord & Harvey. Crap, I have a lot of old razors....

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11-27-2011, 01:06 AM
Voidmonster

2 Attachment(s)

Lord & Harvey. Crap, I have a lot of old razors....

So I got this distinguished older gentleman off eBay recently. Today I gave it a solid cleaning, scale polishing and enough honing to see that it's gonna take some work.

I know Pigot's directory lists these guys, so they go back to at least 1829.

Attachment 83664

It would probably be possible to clean some of the patina off, but I'm disinclined to with this razor. It looks to me like it's seen a lot of use in its life and there's really no hiding it. The scales are going to clean up beautifully. Once again I say: horn is the material that keeps kicking.
Attachment 83665

Based on the stubby little tail, the patina and the to-the-point tang stamp, my best guess is that it's from before 1830.

Sadly, Stimpy's pictures of his Lord & Harvey aren't viewable anymore so I can't compare this one.

Even if I can't get this one to hold a shaving edge, it'll be a lovely specimen of an early Sheffield razor.
11-27-2011, 01:17 AM
dave5225

Nice razor ! I would say circa 1830 , for its age .
11-27-2011, 01:33 AM
Neil Miller

Another lovely razor, you lucky thing!

The partnership is listed as far back as 1817, first at Church Street and then at Bow Street. George Harvey died in 1831, but his widow took his place until 1837, when the partnership was wound up. Afterwards Joseph Lord continued on his own, moving eventually to Wellington Street. He died in 1852.

Regards,
Neil
11-27-2011, 01:52 AM
Croaker

A distinguished old gent to be sure! and no insect damage to the nice horn scales, either. Very good catch.
11-27-2011, 02:18 AM
stimpy52

I'm always happy to show this old guy -- I've never polished it or buffed it (obviously) or nothin' -- I just honed it up and it scares the whiskers off my face....

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...IMG_0301-1.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...IMG_0297-1.jpg

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...IMG_0298-1.jpg

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.
11-27-2011, 06:16 AM
Voidmonster

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

Another lovely razor, you lucky thing!

The partnership is listed as far back as 1817, first at Church Street and then at Bow Street. George Harvey died in 1831, but his widow took his place until 1837, when the partnership was wound up. Afterwards Joseph Lord continued on his own, moving eventually to Wellington Street. He died in 1852.l

I've stumbled my way into 5-6 razors from 1830 or earlier, some of which are in astounding condition. I tell you though, if I ever come up with a reason to write about historical Sheffield razors (writing fiction is what I do when I'm not shaving), I am buying a ticket and coming to the UK so I can pick your brain. :)

So far, I've had no stories come into my head that revolve around razors.
11-27-2011, 06:19 AM
Voidmonster

Quote:

Originally Posted by Croaker

A distinguished old gent to be sure! and no insect damage to the nice horn scales, either. Very good catch.

I'm pretty stunned by that. 180ish years, and that horn needs little more than some neatsfoot oil and a thorough polishing.

In the initial cleanup a tiny piece came out, but a miniscule amount of CA glue, a bit of 1200 grit sanding and the spot's invisible.

I kind of wonder if it hasn't been rescaled at some point. I keep trying to convince myself that the fancy pin collars are an indicator of age, but the verifiable ages of some of the razors I've got defy that.
11-27-2011, 06:28 AM
Voidmonster

Quote:

Originally Posted by stimpy52

I'm always happy to show this old guy -- I've never polished it or buffed it (obviously) or nothin' -- I just honed it up and it scares the whiskers off my face....

Wow! That is REALLY similar to the one I've got! The differences are interesting. Yours has a blade profile more like my GR-stamped W&B with the taller spine, whereas mine has the teardrop shape blade & spine. Also, yours has a pronounced spike where mine looks like it tried to have a spike and just got tired of the effort. Maybe it got chipped and then ground down?

So far, I've only got one oldie that's in shaving duty, this one. It shaves good!
11-27-2011, 09:01 AM
bonitomio

Quote:

Originally Posted by Voidmonster

I've stumbled my way into 5-6 razors from 1830 or earlier, some of which are in astounding condition. I tell you though, if I ever come up with a reason to write about historical Sheffield razors (writing fiction is what I do when I'm not shaving), I am buying a ticket and coming to the UK so I can pick your brain. :)

So far, I've had no stories come into my head that revolve around razors.

+1!
I have thought that a fictional novel based on historically accurate descriptions of period culture, the evoltion of the cutlery industry and the impact of one on the other would make an awesome novel, a la Ken Follett´s Pillars of the Earth for example. Exploring the class differences and life styles of the people around the Sheffield era, you could include everything from royality to child labour. An info-documentary with fictional but historically accurate characters for me that would be an extremely interesting read :D
11-27-2011, 10:33 AM
bonitomio

Quote:

Originally Posted by stimpy52

I'm always happy to show this old guy -- I've never polished it or buffed it (obviously) or nothin' -- I just honed it up and it scares the whiskers off my face....

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g2...IMG_0301-1.jpg

I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.

+2 on keeping this beautiful razor original!
11-27-2011, 10:57 AM
ShaveShack

Voidmonster,

that is a nice looking piece of steel there!

Sam
11-27-2011, 07:04 PM
Voidmonster

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonitomio

+1!
I have thought that a fictional novel based on historically accurate descriptions of period culture, the evoltion of the cutlery industry and the impact of one on the other would make an awesome novel, a la Ken Follett´s Pillars of the Earth for example. Exploring the class differences and life styles of the people around the Sheffield era, you could include everything from royality to child labour. An info-documentary with fictional but historically accurate characters for me that would be an extremely interesting read :D

I will eventually stumble my way into enough information to do this. :)

Hell, I could almost write a novel purely about the WWI refurbished razor I have, since I was lucky enough to get one owned by someone whose records still exist (apparently a lot were lost in WWII).

But like you say, the broad cultural history would be a potentially fascinating book. It's a subject I've been thinking about for some time now.
11-27-2011, 07:24 PM
Voidmonster

3 Attachment(s)

A comparison between the Lord & Harvey and a Wade & Butcher made between 1821 and 1830.

Attachment 83749

The Lord & Harvey is the top one, the Wade & Butcher is the bottom (you can just make out the spine stamp on the W&B).

Attachment 83748

Both blades open.

Attachment 83747

And the profile of the Lord & Harvey -- classic 'teardrop' shape, as opposed to the W&B and Stimpy's Lord & Harvey, which both have the squared off spine.