Thread: George Brittain "Acier Fondu" Razor

Found this on eBay last week, on the way to Phranky's Shave Den and a cleaning.

This razor is stamped, "Acier Fondu", molten steel is the literal translation, but cast steel seems to the technical translation.

Obviously French, which makes me wonder if the GB and Maltese / Iron Cross were added later? Who knows. No anchor stamp as well....

Looks like it may have a slight frown, but I think this should clean up nicely, think it's the smallest GB I've seen.....

Definitely not added later, was very common for Sheffielders to stamp cutlery with Acier Fondu instead of cast steel. That razor is approximately 200 years old. Great find!

A beautiful thing

And yes "Acier Fondu" is French, after Huntsman invented "Cast Steel" the English cutlers didn't like the new steel so Huntsman was selling most of his production to France hence the mark "Acier Fondu". Decades later they were force to use it to compete with the French and many used the "Acier Fondu" markings because what was made from the French was superior as far as steel goes.

Originally Posted by Martin103

And yes "Acier Fondu" is French, after Huntsman invented "Cast Steel" the English cutlers didn't like the new steel so Huntsman was selling most of his production to France hence the mark "Acier Fondu". Decades later they were force to use it to compete with the French and many used the "Acier Fondu" markings because what was made from the French was superior as far as steel goes.

So to surface the old legend, the Anchor signifying Birmingham, which I've read has no or little basis in fact...curious as to why the Anchor stamp is missing? Any ideas?

I dunno, but I thought I may see some 9/8 razors here!

Before the anchor GB?

Originally Posted by Phrank

So to surface the old legend, the Anchor signifying Birmingham, which I've read has no or little basis in fact...curious as to why the Anchor stamp is missing? Any ideas?

Well firstly its not a George Brittain razor, its a Brittain, Wilkinson & Brownell.

I'm assuming the anchor came later in this firm history as you mainly see that on the big choppers.

Originally Posted by Phrank

So to surface the old legend, the Anchor signifying Birmingham, which I've read has no or little basis in fact...curious as to why the Anchor stamp is missing? Any ideas?

The association of anchor-stamped steel items with Birmingham comes, as far as I can tell, from a misunderstanding that the silver hallmark for Birmingham could be meaningful on anything other than silver.

Had good success fixing the bug bites, with epoxy and horn dust from a left over piece.

So thanks for that info, Martin!
If I understand correctly, no such thing as a George Brittain?
Its Brittain, Wilkinson, and Brownell!