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Author	Topic: Storr & Co.
ahwt Posts: 2377 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 07-10-2006 12:22 AM Above is a knife we found over the weekend with the mark Storr & Co on the blade and the mark PS for Paul Storr on the handle opposite the hallmarks. No city mark is included in the hallmarks and the date letter P does not have the protrusion at the bottom as shown in Jackson for either 1810 or 1831. Nevertheless, I assume it is one of those dates. I think that the date letters starting in 1796 were upper case while those starting in 1816 are lower case, but with the letter P it is hard to tell any difference between the upper and lower case when stamped on this knife. Any ideas as to the correct date would be appreciated. I included a photo of the curious engraving on the handle of the knife. It looks to me to be a crescent moon with a star placed between the open ends. I have no idea as to what this may mean unless it is a symbol for the owner. No other engraving is on the knife. The knife seems over sized my today's standard as it measures 10 3/4 inches long. The handle is four 1/2 inches long. The blade is steel, has a good edge and shows the remains of some pitting caused by rust. Was it common for silversmiths in England to put their name on the blade? Normally I would think that a steel blade would have been made by someone other than a silversmith and that their name or mark would be on the blade. IP: Logged
adelapt Posts: 418 Registered: May 2003	posted 07-10-2006 03:12 AM FWIW - I think it likely that Storr bought in his blades from a specialist cutler, this was common, but had them marked for his company. The date looks to be 1810 to me, one of the main differences between the upper and lower cases of letter 'p' is that the lower case tended to have a bevel (chamfer) at the top LH part of the upstroke. For such an object as a knife handle, the partial marking (lacking city mark) would not have been unusual at the time. The engraved symbol would be the family armorial crest of the owner, but note that unlike a full coat of arms, a specific crest could be used by one or many families, unrelated or not. Thus they are usually not definitive. The size shows that in those days they were serious about eating! Even today, many Europeans use table utensils of a size that those of the new world would balk at. Try it - and bon appetit! IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2377 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 07-10-2006 06:38 PM Thanks adelapt the great information. Your comment about serious dining reminded me of a reproduction of an early Scottish traveling knife and fork set made by an Indiana metal smith. His normal line is historic edged weaponry, but on occasion he does make eating utensils such as the above. It did cross my mind that the knife in this set bears a striking resemblance to a weapon. Perhaps in the early times one had to be always prepared when traveling. Glenn A. McClain made this set and marked the blade of the knife with his initial. IP: Logged
DB Posts: 252 Registered: May 2006	posted 07-16-2006 11:39 AM The curious engraving is a crest and in this specific case in heraldic language "out of a crescent arg. an etoile or." It was used by the following families: Alston, Alstone, Bateman, Beatie, Beattie, Boyce, Cooker, Cooper, Crawford, McColl, Ramsey, Reynolds, Sandeland, Sandilands In: Fairbairn's Book of Crests, recised ed.Edinburgh 1892, Plate 163, No.4 Hope this helps ------------------ Dorothea Burstyn IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2377 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 07-16-2006 11:15 PM Thank you Dorothea - your comments are very informative. I suppose the translation is out of a silver crescent a golden star or perhaps the silver and gold just reflect the color on the actual coat of arms. Fairbairn's Book of Crests must be a marvel. Thanks again to all. Art IP: Logged

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