Two Old Pieces of Italian History

Since Tom showed off his A. Sanelli, so he wanted to see the straights I have from Italy. They aren't as wide as his blade but they are nice & when I hone them, I bet they will be excellent shavers! The first one is a Lorenzo Bianda Firenzi & the next one is a Fratelli Cella Milano.
I got these awhile back on the bay & I still haven't done anything to them yet. The Lorenzo Bianda Firenzi had a cracked scale, so I will either fix them or look to see if I have some scales for it. If not, I will make some nice scales for it.
Here's the Lorenzo Bianda Firenzi:
Attachment 200862
Attachment 200863
Attachment 200864

Next is the Fratelli Cella Milano:
Attachment 200865
Attachment 200866
Attachment 200867

I cannot find any information on either of the two. To me, they appear to be of very good quality straight razors & I will be replacing the scales on the Lorenzo Bianda Firenzi or making some, then I will hone both. The Fratelli Cella Milano has a final horizontal grind at the edge of the blade which is unusual but I like it. In the pic, it looks like the Fratelli has a nick on the blade near the heel but that is a flaw in the photo. There is no nick on the blade. Both blades are 13/16" wide! I love the Fratelli Cella Milano & the jimping on it.

hmmmmm.... fratelli......isnt that the family from the goonies?

AHA!...........................:idea:

So, I wonder if Lorenzo Bianda of Firenze (Florence) was the maker of the first one, or a dealer?
The M and C in the maker's mark. I wonder what those mean?
I DO have a big reason for wondering about this!

Attachment 200889
It would seem that Fratelli Cella was a dealer in Milan as that one is marked 'Solingen'.

Lovely blades! :cool:

Two very nice finds. I really like the Fratelli. Really interesting shape.

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Originally Posted by KindestCutOfAll

Two very nice finds. I really like the Fratelli. Really interesting shape.

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reminds me of the ERN ATOR

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Originally Posted by silverloaf

reminds me of the ERN ATOR

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Indeed, it does!

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Originally Posted by KindestCutOfAll

Two very nice finds. I really like the Fratelli. Really interesting shape.

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Yes, that one is my favorite of the two!

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

AHA!...........................:idea:

So, I wonder if Lorenzo Bianda of Firenze (Florence) was the maker of the first one, or a dealer?
The M and C in the maker's mark. I wonder what those mean?
I DO have a big reason for wondering about this!

Attachment 200889
It would seem that Fratelli Cella was a dealer in Milan as that one is marked 'Solingen'.

Lovely blades! :cool:

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That IS very interesting Tom!

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Originally Posted by engine46

That IS very interesting Tom!

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Indeed, what is more interesting is that this razor was stamped for a dealer in Chicago!

Attachment 200892

Yet, I seem to have bought it from France! :confused:

[QUOTE=sharptonn;1495048]Indeed, what is more interesting is that this razor was stamped for a dealer in Chicago!

Hmmmmm, so that straight was made for a Company! I wish there was more information in my books on straights from Italy but unfortunately there isn't, kinda like French straight's. There is hardly any information on them at all.

Yeah, the English and Germans exported razors by the jillion, so perhaps the Italians mostly imported them.
Seems obvious that your Fratelli Cella razor was imported from Solingen. I seriously doubt Lorenzo Bianda was anything other than a dealer as his maker's mark would probably not be M/C.
Still, some more Italian-made ones are bound to be out there.

On that M/C mark. I have one and so do you. Each stamped with a dealer's stamp. I wish I knew who actually made them.
Bound to be one out there stamped with the actual maker's name.

I have looked and asked Neil Miller. I also had a member put it out on a French forum. Still no dice.


Razor mysteries! :D

Tom,
Someone will come through with something for us I'm sure.........................eventually!

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Originally Posted by engine46

Tom,
Someone will come through with something for us I'm sure.........................eventually!

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Yes, Steve, it will certainly be discovered! We have 2 nice blades. A maker will be confirmed as well.....As you say, eventually! ;)

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Yes, Steve, it will certainly be discovered! We have 2 nice blades. A maker will be confirmed as well.....As you say, eventually! ;)

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I agree Tom. As with the Sheffield's & German made straights, the Swedish, French & the Italians took pride in their workmanship, just like the great Mastro Livi! Of course the American's made some fantastic straight's as well.

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

AHA!...........................:idea:

So, I wonder if Lorenzo Bianda of Firenze (Florence) was the maker of the first one, or a dealer?


Attachment 200889

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Info has come to light that this is the mark of Marx and Co of Solingen!

Groucho?
Harpo?

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Originally Posted by RezDog

Groucho?
Harpo?

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Chico!...............

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Originally Posted by sharptonn

Chico!...............

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What's going on here................ESP or something. I was at this old thread maybe an hour ago!

Actually Tom, I came across the one that had the cracked scale because all I found was the blade. I wanted to look at the scales so I can match them up to some I may have. I remember now, at the time, I thought I had some but there must have been an issue but I now have a couple sets of larger size scales like I need here.

You liked one of my posts here while you were here, Steve.
I got a notification.....Came to see....Reported the maker of the razor while I was here.

Rezdog, on the other hand, must just be bored! :rofl2:

It came up in the new posts, so I had to check it out, and while here I thought it was a good spot to be a wise @ss. It’s hard work keeping Tom on his toes and with John having stepped up it left a lot of work to be done.
;-)

wow man! those are two super nice findings.. beautiful razors indeed!.. i have no Italian girls in my collection.. now you got me thinking!!! LOL

That's right, I forgot I clicked on a like Tom.
Yep, I believe I have a set of scales for that nice blade now!