Another "date this Wade and Butcher" thread

[Jonah]

I just got this in the mail and I was hoping someone could help me with the date. I know it's a pre 1890's as it only has the Sheffield stamp without the England following. The only markings are on the tang stamp which reads "Manufactured by Wade and Butcher Sheffield." Outside of that there isn't any other kind of identiftying marks. If I remember correctly, W&B started getting big on hollow blades around the 1870's. I figured it might be earlier than that since it isn't anywhere near a hollow. So, anyone have an idea on this?



Thanks a bunch.

Cheers

[Voidmonster]

They continued producing meaty wedges well after 1900, actually.

However, those large washers on the scales are a slightly better indicator. Unfortunately, the whole span from about 1850 to 1880 is very hard to get precise with. In the absence of some other stamp or etching that can help pinpoint (like with razors made for a particular store or person), a guess is as good as you can do, and 1870 is a good guess.

[Martin103]

From what im seeing i agree with +- 1870 a picture of the tail might yield different results.

[Jonah]

As embarassing as this sounds, I didn't look at the blade with a very careful eye and missed that there is an etching. It is incredibly faint and I can make out a shield, and what looks like some lettering going around the top of the blade. Nothing else shows up well on the camera. Does this help at all?

[Voidmonster]

As embarassing as this sounds, I didn't look at the blade with a very careful eye and missed that there is an etching. It is incredibly faint and I can make out a shield, and what looks like some lettering going around the top of the blade. Nothing else shows up well on the camera. Does this help at all?

I agree, it looks like a crest of some kind with writing around it, but it's not legible to me.

You might take a piece of 1000 or 2000 grit sandpaper, wrap it around a broom handle and use that to lightly sand the surface. Go slow and gentle and you might make the design pop out a little more.

[Jonah]

This is a rough sketch of what the etching looks like

The lettering above the left shield/crest looks like it spell "George" but it is hard to tell. I'll probably do as Voidmonster suggested but I'll start on the heel and see if that clears anything up. I'm mighty curious as to what it could be.

[Maladroit]

Jonah, in my opinion, the etching looks a lot like the shield from the royal arms of Great Britain i.e. the UK. In the left bottom quarter you can just make out the Irish harp and the top left and bottom right quarters bear the 3 lions of England. I'm willing to bet that the top right quarter has the lion rampant of Scotland. So, what does this mean - that it was made for the royal family? Not a chance, it's just a manufacturer claiming the royal warrant. USAans may not be familiar with the words "by appointment to his (her) majesty" and other variants such as the "Prince of Wales" etc. Us Aussies and Canadians will all have seen this on anything from biscuit tins to hair brushes. i would not be at all surprised if an old and respected firm like W&B didn't score at least one royal warrant in their long history. You could try researching to find when the right to use the royal arms was granted to the company - that could give the earliest date the razor could have been made.

[Jonah]

Jonah, in my opinion, the etching looks a lot like the shield from the royal arms of Great Britain i.e. the UK.

You are absolutely right about that.

This is the best picture I could (and probably can) get.




The red arrow marks the crest for the royal coat of arms, though it is just the shield itself. The blue arrow points to another shield, though it looks like it just has vertical lines running on it. The green arrow points to what looks like a man, but that's just my opinion. I circled in purple on the top left where it looks like George is written. I am dying to know what the whole blade looks like. This seems to be a case for the Hardy Boys.