Thread: Help to identify my razor (I think swedish)

Hello everyone, I'm sorry if I post this wrong, but I have recently got a present from my grandmother, a straight razor belonged to my great-grandfather.. I think that it is from Sweden, no other sign nor stamp on the other side. So does anyone recognize it? maker, etc..

excellent present and a heirloom to boot! Looks to me like a Geo Wostenholm Pipe razor. a Sheffield, England razor of very good reputation. I'll let more experienced members comment further on provenance

Neat stubtail,Like.

I'm not sure if that's a Wostenholm pipe , or another trademark . It seems I remember another thread saying there is a trademark similar to the Wostenholm pipe , but it's not . Either way , you've got a really old razor in excellent condition (for its age) . However , I think it may have been your great grandfather's , great grandfather's razor . It looks like it dates to around 1830 , or so .

No idea on the maker, quite a few used the pipe stamp, Wostenholm being the most famous. Because of the stubtail, which places it somewhere in the first half of the 19th century, I'd venture a guess and say it's a wedge that was reground into a hollow.

It's often quite difficult to identify a pipe mark for several reasons:

tang shape means part of it has not printed
pitting has made it appear to have changed (eg a bowl may have 'acquired' a stem)
the stamp is larger than the bit it has been used on and part is missing, etc

I suppose the main things to note are whether the bowl of the pipe has a short stem or resting piece and whether the long mouthpiece is curved or straight.

Below is a small (incomplete) table of pipe marks. Not all the makers are considered primarily as razor-makers, but all made edged instruments, so a razor is not out of the question for, say, a spring-knife maker.



Key
a: Wostenholm
b: Wostenholme
c: William Webster
d: Wardrobe & Smith
e: William Twigg
f: Wardrobe and Smith
g: Luke Alsop
h and i: (composed of five marks) W & J Birkes
j: Birkes, Withers & Sykes
k: John Newton
l: F & A Colley, also 'Widow' Colley
m: Geo. Johnson
n: John Lindley

Regards,
Neil

Makes one wonder what a pipe of any type signifies.
Just got to thinking,the manufactor of clay smoking pipes was a big buis back in the day,this requierd Kilns,perhaps making razors using these kilns was a logical offshoot.

Does it look like the area on the underside of the tang has been ground? I have a couple that were given shoulders later in their life. This is where the metal was missing on mine:



The shape would make more sense to me as an older razor if this were the case with yours.

My first idea was Birks (before 1817), because of the shape of the razor and the straight line of the pipe, I think the pipe from Wostenholm is more a bow shape and later in use (after 1843), another possibillity I think is W. & H. Hutchinson, who manufactered 'Pipe' razors (trademark bought from Birks, sold to Wostenholm in 1843)

The double stabilizers and the hollowing puzzeld me but it could be from a later regrinding

Originally Posted by Neil Miller

It's often quite difficult to identify a pipe mark for several reasons:

tang shape means part of it has not printed
pitting has made it appear to have changed (eg a bowl may have 'acquired' a stem)
the stamp is larger than the bit it has been used on and part is missing, etc

I suppose the main things to note are whether the bowl of the pipe has a short stem or resting piece and whether the long mouthpiece is curved or straight.

Below is a small (incomplete) table of pipe marks. Not all the makers are considered primarily as razor-makers, but all made edged instruments, so a razor is not out of the question for, say, a spring-knife maker.



Key
a: Wostenholm
b: Wostenholme
c: William Webster
d: Wardrobe & Smith
e: William Twigg
f: Wardrobe and Smith
g: Luke Alsop
h and i: (composed of five marks) W & J Birkes
j: Birkes, Withers & Sykes
k: John Newton
l: F & A Colley, also 'Widow' Colley
m: Geo. Johnson
n: John Lindley

Regards,
Neil

Is (b) from Wostenholme or Johnson? The dart has lead to discussion, also in this forum