Thread: Horace stub tail

Good morning Sirs,

I have recently acquired this Horace stub tail. The picture is from the bay, I will post a better one on the stub tail sub-forum once I'm done with its restoration.
In the meanwhile, I would like to get some information about the maker and the date of its production, since I couldn't find any Horace in my books. Does anybody knows anything about it?



Thank you!

Hello Mauri,

I haven't had any luck with the census records for Sheffield of 1841, 1851, 1861 and 1871 - it seems that 'Horace' was quite an unusual surname. I haven't found any english jewellers marks yet, either. Any other info you can let us have?

Regards,
Neil

Hallo Neil,

And thank you for the research. Unfortunately I can't tell much more than it's a stub tail in blonde horn... On the tang there is only Horace, nothing else... I suspect it's older than 1841, to be sincere. I would guess, from the shape, that it is between 1775 and 1815. Just an impression, of course.

I agree Mauri - it certainly looks pre-1800 or thereabouts. I can only get as far back as 1841 with online census records though, so I was really hopiong to get a hit on a relatives name which would lead me back.

Regards,
Neil

Wow, that is a beauty. I can't wait to get my hands on a razor that old (pre-1800's).

that is so cool! I can't believe that razors are still around from that long ago...that thing looks so good for its age

That's a really nice find! Congratulations!

That looks fabulous...so I'm going to stick my nose in here and I hope not to offend -- but "restoration"? -- please go slow and consider leaving this as original as possible. Maybe just clean and hone?

Yes sure just clean and hone! I don't like useless changes like rehoning, scales changes etc.! I consider them as the last solution. But the horn is quite dry and needs a lot of oil, the blade is twisted, the edge is partly absent and I have to hone a lot to recover it... and the patina just doesn't want to get off, so the hone marks will be very visible and large once shave ready
It's going to be a long work!