2 Attachment(s)
GR stamped Wade & Butcher in ivory.
I was in one of the local antiques malls yesterday and I talked to a couple of the people who keep stalls there. One guy said he had some straight razors and he'd bring a few in.
His booth there is pretty much your typical coastal community, old fisherman's antique collection. Pipes, knives, things made out of spent ordinance, swords. The things he has are good quality (and I lust after that folk-art sword made from a swordfish bill using one of its vertebra as the guard, but I cannot afford it), but I just didn't know what to expect from the razors. This mall has had plenty before of radically differing quality.
I'd never bought any of their razors before.
So today I go in there to see if he brought any by and lo, there were two in the display case. The first was a Puma, probably 13/16. Very clean scales and blade etch but with a sizable notch out of the blade. It could've easily been fixed and I was considering it until I looked at the other one. The more expensive one.
This one.
Attachment 86018
The toe is overhoned. It looks like it may have seen a light regrind. It's not a rattler profile, but a groove down the middle of the blade.
However.
Attachment 86019
It's a GR stamped Wade & Butcher, placing it at some point between 1821 and 1830. It has almost no pitting, very little patina (for a razor of this age) and a thin bevel. The ivory scales are pristine. No cracks at all. There's not even much discoloration from the silver pins.
Now I officially have too many razors to put in my 'before 1830' display box!
-- Edited to add:
The tang stamp has G(crown)R, WADE & BUTCHER'S / FINE INDIA STEEL / UNIVERSALLY / APPROVED