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Sadly, the formulations of the strop pastes aren't something I've ever come across. Emery powder and crocus (iron oxide) are likely suspects, and considering the inventive spirit and relaxed concept...

Like later razors, they could be quite variable. Here’s a small grouping of 18th century razors ranging from about 1740 to 1795 with a pretty standard-size 6/8 Wade & Butcher from the 1860’s for...

I just checked the Bradfield indentures and master lists, and there are no robinsons listed there either.

So... Maybe a London razor?

Oooh! That's a good one!

Definitely not in either Sketchley's or Gales & Martin.

Your best bet is to get in touch with the Cutler's Company: https://cutlers-hallamshire.org.uk/contact-us/

My...

The closest thing there is Mark Havenhand (son of Mark the sicklesmith) who was apprenticed to John Lockwood, filesmith.

The file makers were also pretty far removed from the razor makers, so also...

Always glad to help!

My cruise through Sketchley's also didn't find anything.

I feel relatively certain the mark is not a Sheffield mark.

The blade shape, to my eye, looks distinctly late...

If you haven't heard back in a few days, I'll get in touch and see if I can get anything.

I’ve seen that marking technique used on ivory as well, and I assume it was done somewhere after it left the manufacturer.


Dimab, has there been any word from the Cutler’s Company on whether...

A stamp with the initials MH did belong to Mark Havenhead, but it's unlikely he made this razor. He made sickles, which were a significantly different industry from razors. They used different steel,...

Godfrey I.H. Lloyd's "The Cutlery Trades" covers the German part of this question.

Essentially, the German cutlery industry was destroyed in the early 1700's by the trade guilds who controlled...

I'm 98% certain it's English, and probably made in Sheffield for someone elsewhere. As many were.

For the moment it's going to have to get filed away along with other oddities like MAUDE (from the...

Neat, huh?

I've done a little cursory poking around and haven't turned up anything.

And when I say "haven't turned up anything" I mean, there are zero Sheffield directory listings for ANYONE...

Looks like a mid 1820's razor.

Can you get a closeup of the tang stamp?

Excellent find!

I knew from Smith's Key that the crown & GR mark was used for George III, but had never seen a verifiable razor example! Superb!

Ah, yes!

Sadly, I know absolutely nothing about Spanish razors from the 18th century, so I can't offer much help there. :(

That is a very odd one.

I don't think it's English, but it also doesn't look very French to my eye. Maybe Belgian?

Please do!

I recently spend a couple of days researching Henry Birks because I *thought* one of my very old razors was his, but marks that old are really tough to identify. Luckily, Joan Unwin was...

I'm always glad to help!

Ah! Welcome to one of the more difficult families to research!

Well, actually, the Robinsons are easy.

Benjamin, who made your razor, was freed in 1830. His mark, 'Heart' Spain, was passed to...

Sure looks like it! Has that same weird spike tail.

On the ones I've got, that tail is paper-thin. What's it like on yours?

The thing is, I'm not sure I have either! Hence, the tests. :D

Here's both of them with a 7/8 Joseph Rodgers to get a sense of scale.
...

I've been sitting on a web link to a place that does this work for over a year while other projects get in the way.

My understanding is that it starts getting inaccurate in the late 1700's as the...

There was also a grandson, John, whose mark was PEARL in the 1787 Gales & Martin.

Personally, I'd be hard pressed to make a guess on which of the three Kippaxes it likely was. The razor looks...

I only just realized that I never put this razor here, where it definitely belongs.

http://theshiveringbeggar.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/018ee1d5ddaad6b88405d70ebe80c73a9d12cba3f2.jpg

John...