Thread: John Shepherd pressed horn 'Cossack'

Trying out some new LED bulbs I got for my lighting setup. Here is an early 1800s (not sure of exact date) John Shepherd, trademark WOLF with crown, in pressed black horn scales depicting cossack scenes including hunting, a two-headed eagle, a sleigh, an anchor, and a lion. Pretty neat. Came in an ebay lot for pretty cheap. I was happily surprised at the condition; most of the blades on the pressed horn razors I see are in really rough shape.

That's a fine, fine catch there! And with a wedge, tool! The one I've got has the crude wedge shaped into the scales.

A very nice Razor!
Seems as if it was produced for export to Russia, do someone know more about the Scales?
The Eagle seems to me as if it is the sign of the czaristic russian empire.

For the time period, it would appear to be a crest from the Austrian Empire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-headed_eagle

Originally Posted by Splashone

For the time period, it would appear to be a crest from the Austrian Empire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-headed_eagle

It could be anything from that to a Russian symbolism to something symbolic of the balkans / southern Russia. Cossack in general refers to cultures in that area, so the big question is was the razor marketed to Cossacks or marketed to other people who knew what Cossacks were.

What a razor ! It must date from 1815/1820 celebrating the allies victory against France. The cossacks were of the highest importance in the defeat of the 1812's campaign !

The british gives the russian a lot of money in order to fight angainst the french (brits had the navy, but almost no army, the russian had so much human ressources...)

Originally Posted by charlie48horlogerie

What a razor ! It must date from 1815/1820 celebrating the allies victory against France. The cossacks were of the highest importance in the defeat of the 1812's campaign !

The british gives the russian a lot of money in order to fight angainst the french (brits had the navy, but almost no army, the russian had so much human ressources...)

Ah of course, I had not thought about the war.

beautifully pressed scales. i adore them!

Originally Posted by Splashone

For the time period, it would appear to be a crest from the Austrian Empire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-headed_eagle

My grandfather's passport, from St. Petersburg, Russia, had the same eagle on it. Circa 1908. Lovely razor.

It would be probably be marked 'kazak' if it was meant to be readable by Cossacks.

They fought in the Napoleonic wars, most notably the Russian Campaign of 1812 where Napoleon was trounced.

They played a part in the Crimean War (1853 - 56) and from England's point the war was really to stop russia expanding into countries like India.

I guess that cossacks (Ukrainian, Russian) were well-known by the english peoples in the early to mid 1800s, if not earlier, and that the scales do not indicate any particular 'export' model.

All we can tell from the 'Wolf' mark is that it was either a George Sheppard (circa 1780s), a Sheppard & Sons (circa 1797 and later), a John Sheppard (circa 1820s), George again (c 1825 - 1833) or a John Barber (c 1833 - 1839), who bought the mark. Of course, we know that the mark changed hands again, but this takes it a bit too far out of our range.

It does look like an early rather than a later blade, so we have three candidates for maker: without a name it cannot be assigned to any particular one.

Nice razor, though.

Regards,
Neil