Thread: 3/4+ Joseph Rodgers & Sons Cutlers Sheffield Near Wedge

Found this one in France and I couldn't pass it up.

A 3/4+ (.78) Round point Joseph Rodgers (&) Sons Cutlers Sheffield near wedge.
Pointed, horn scales that are slightly curved. Definitely has small jimps or flutting on top.
Maybe on the bottom as well. From the photos I don't see any active rust. Beautiful lines and curves.

The odd thing (for me) was the stamp on the tang. It didn't say Cutlers To Their Majesties. Just Cutlers. I've been searching around to see if I could find another one with similar markings. I even searched through the sub forum Jolly Rodgers. Maybe this razor belongs their as well?

Research that I found about Joseph Rodgers states "Around 1800, Rodgers’ product range broadened into razors, table cutlery and scissors and in 1821 the firm was appointed cutlers to The Royal Family for the first time."

Could this razor have been made between 1800- 1821?

Info here describes a "few key things" to look for when dating a vintage razor. The first section describes "features" of the 1800's - 1830's. Wedge grind, flutting, slightly curved scales, introduction of the shoulder and introduction to the "Monarch"




Here's what the original listing read:

Coupe chou JOSEPH RODGERS
SONS CUTLERS
SHEFFIELD

Chasses d origine CORNES

ETUI EN CUIR AVEC FERMETURE

Longueur fermé : 167 mm
longueur tranchant :74 mm
largeur tranchant : 20 mm

regardez mes autres rasoirs
il y en a pour tout les goûts et tout les prix

paiement cheque accepté si profil superieur a 20

Photos sur demande

STRAIGHT RAZOR JOSEPH RODGERS
SONS CUTLERS
SHEFFIELD

Hunts of origin CORNES

LEATHER CASE WITH CLOSURE

Closed length: 167 mm
cutting length: 74 mm
cutting width: 20 mm

Thanks for looking

Cheetah

Thinking about this now. Those scales seem to be in too good of condition for a 200 year old razor. Not sure. Maybe they are replacements or restored. I will ask the seller.

Its quite possible they are, if the pouch is leather, and has been kept oiled to keep its suppleness. It may have transfered to the scales, as well as for the condition of the blade, which looks very good as well.

TBH, it looks like a French razor. Perhaps made for the French market?

Originally Posted by sharptonn

TBH, it looks like a French razor. Perhaps made for the French market?

Go on.....I'm listening...lol

Can anyone help with age verification of this and has anyone seen a Joseph Rodgers stamp like this before.

In the Jolly Rodgers sub forum there is one blade that looks similar. It is a round point as well but the tail is more robust. I can't read the tang cause the photo is blurry. Page 12

Thanks

CMP

Not that I am an expert but from threads with a lot of historical information in them has left me feeling like the tail is not correct for a razor from pre 1821. The absence of the monarch endorsement is puzzling.

Originally Posted by outback

Its quite possible they are, if the pouch is leather, and has been kept oiled to keep its suppleness. It may have transfered to the scales, as well as for the condition of the blade, which looks very good as well.

I never thought of it that way, regarding the scales. That makes total sense. I'll really have to get in there with a fine tooth comb when the blade comes but definitely from the photos the blade does look GOOD!

Thanks for the feed back.

Originally Posted by outback

Its quite possible they are, if the pouch is leather, and has been kept oiled to keep its suppleness. It may have transfered to the scales, as well as for the condition of the blade, which looks very good as well.

Hey Outback,

I just heard back from the seller about the condition of the scales.
This is what he had to say:

"Hello
Joseph Rodgers began the razors early 1800, this one should rather date from the end of 19 th. Before 1901, because after the razor were marked England on silk. the scales are d-origins, I do not redo the scales. I clean the razors with the hands without machine and leave them entirely of origin.
I think it has been well preserved in its leather case.
I'll be in New York next week, I could almost have delivered it to you by hand.
I wish you a good day. cordially"

Beautiful old razor. I agree with sharptonn that it looks like it could be styled for the French market. Pointed razor scale tips are an almost exclusively French thing in my experience. The sweeping undercut tang style is also something I also associate with French market razors, but more relatively "modern" (post-1870) styling. Yet that blade style and grind is definitely really old. The tails I've seen on pre-1830 razors seem to be much stubbier and thicker than this one.

It's a mix of things, maybe a transitional late old-style razor or an early new-style razor. Joseph Rodgers that I see tend to be very traditionally styled British choppers, so this one is pretty unusual. So being a non-British marketed razor seems very plausible to me.

On an interesting side note, I recently dug up an out-of-print book I bought years ago called "A Razor Anthology", kind of a collection of razor-related articles from the publishers of Knife World magazine from 1995. Overall it's kind of boring, but it has a great article titled "Razors of the Bowie Men." It turns out that most Bowie Knives sold and used in the United States between 1830 - 1870 were made by a handful of Sheffield companies I only associated with razors. I knew they made knives, but I always figured boring household knives, not something as associated with adventure as Bowie knives in the mid-1800s. Pretty cool.

Joseph Rodgers was apparently one of the key smaller high-quality Bowie knife makers, along with Wm. Greaves & Sons. Wostenholm I*XL brand was the largest, along with Wade & Butcher.

These read like a list of my favorite Sheffield razor makers, and I just thought it was interesting that they played such a badass part in American frontier history.