Thread: Wootz! Joseph Rodgers "Indian Steel"

I'd never seen any blades but Stoddart stamped with the Sanskrit 'wootz. In all likelihood, the blade is made with steel refined from Indian ore. I'm guessing early 1840's. It's got an arris spine (between the rounded quill profile and the sharper swaged back) and that shallow little hollow point. The thumb notch and back are jimped with the kind of quality cut you'd expect on a good file.



It's a really beefy 7/8 blade. It's the Sanskrit that really grabbed my attention (though having a 7/8 Rodgers wedge surely is no great hardship). That's the same stamp (with simplification) that James Stodart used (seen here, the J. Stodart card at the bottom of Neil's post).



My guess of early 1840's is due to the combination of the Sanskrit and the Rodgers stamp. I'm working on the theory that having the wootz stamp pushes for earlier and the 'Their Majesties' is Victorian, so taken together early Victoria but post Albert. That's all just a guess though. For all I know Rodgers was using the 'Their Majesties' stamp during William III's reign or even George IV. My money is on Victoria though.



This is not a dainty blade. It's not quite the heaviest I've got (at least I don't think -- I haven't checked) but it's a solid chunk of steel (wootz!). Obviously it doesn't exhibit the watered pattern of Damascus steel, but as far as I've seen, none of the English-forged steels derived from Indian ore did.