Boot-Sale Quill Knife? & Wheat Sheaf Knife.

B

Blake the Blade

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Mar 28, 2015
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Went to a car boot-sale today and bought a couple of interesting old folders. One was described to me as a quill knife and measures 2.5 inches closed with the longest of it's two blades measuring just over 1.5 inches. It has mother of pearl scales, brass liners and what I can see of the inscription on the smaller blade appears to read Sheffield Cutler England. I don't know if it is a quill knife or just an over-sharpened miniature folder, but the lady only wanted three pounds so I took a chance on it. Any information regarding the knife is much appreciated.

Untitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr.Untitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr

Untitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr.Untitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr
 
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Nice knife. I don't know if it's a quill knife either- I assume that means for shaping quills into pens, which is how the pen knife got its name also.
Users, and even makers, are never as fussy about nomenclature as collectors, and there are bound to be regional variations and individual idiosyncrasies.
I'd call that a regular jack, but I'm sticking my neck out without checking a book.
 
Nice knife Blake, though it isn't a Quill Knife. I got a MOP Quill knife from a Boot Sale last weekend my friend :thumbup:
 
I wouldn't call it a quill knife and those long nicks don't look like Sheffield work to me. I may be wrong but I think it's an Indianmade knife, possibly Pakistan. Heres a very rare and early wreck of a two blade quill knife, the master blade is a quillotine for shopping the tip off the quill pen By putting the cut tip in through the "nail nick" in the ivory handle and compressing the master)after the angle cut has been done. This one is somewhere in the 1830, either George or William the 4th.
The first knife is a late quill knife in MOP. The leg knife is after the turn of the 20th century, I would call it a novelty knife but the lade is a typical small quill knife blade.
Best regards

Robin


 
Pipeman said:
I wouldn't call it a quill knife and those long nicks don't look like Sheffield work to me. I may be wrong but I think it's an Indianmade knife, possibly Pakistan. Heres a very rare and early wreck of a two blade quill knife, the master blade is a quillotine for shopping the tip off the quill pen By putting the cut tip in through the "nail nick" in the ivory handle and compressing the master)after the angle cut has been done. This one is somewhere in the 1830, either George or William the 4th.
The first knife is a late quill knife in MOP. The leg knife is after the turn of the 20th century, I would call it a novelty knife but the lade is a typical small quill knife blade.
Best regards

Robin


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Thanks lads, appreciate the information. I had my own doubts I must admit and yes there's definitely something going on with those nail-nicks. That small blade almost looks as though its been put on the wrong way around looking at the outward facing tang and the fact that the writing is worn on the opposite side than you would expect. Perhaps this was put together at some point as a deliberate attempt to deceive using various bits and bobs, all of which look like genuine English/Sheffield parts and possibly not Asian in origin, I don't know. It certainly wasn't worth the effort for the three quid it cost me, and as such I'm more than prepared to put this one down to experience. But having said all of that, and with all due respect, I still don't know for sure. In a way it has it's own interest for all of this anyway. I certainly know more about quill knives now than I did this morning. Many thanks.
 
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Hello Blake, I should have looked in my Levines prior to posting.:rolleyes: This is a posibility, Levine has >Sheffield cutlery Co-operative Society Limited with a single date of 1893.

Best regards

Robin
 
Pipeman said:
Hello Blake, I should have looked in my Levines prior to posting.:rolleyes: This is a posibility, Levine has >Sheffield cutlery Co-operative Society Limited with a single date of 1893.

Best regards

Robin
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Well well, the plot thickens. Isn't that date a little late for something like a quill knife though?
 
Blake the Blade said:
Well well, the plot thickens. Isn't that date a little late for something like a quill knife though?
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Hi Blake, It's not a quill knife, however itcould be used to cut a quill :D The pivot pin has been replaced pretty much for sure. The England mark would suggest after 1892, who knows about the curvy nail nicks, I've never seen anything quite like them. :D The England mark looks like individual letter stamps where as the Cutlers mark looks more like single word stamps. The fact that it was a "society" and a co-operative could mean that they trained cutlers and those nicks were a first attempt. Of course I'm just thinking about possibilities.:D I did some googling but found nothing about the company name.

Best regards

Robin
 
I believe that Quill knives were produced long after quill pens fell out of use, being included in ladies reticules for example. However, that is not a Quill knife Blake. I've seen pulls like this before. I have a couple of Sheffield Cutlery Co-operative Productive Society knives, but the mark is different. Sheffield Cutlery Manufacturers Ltd might be a possibility.
 
Thanks for the heads up lads, its great to have the experts on hand to put me right on such matters . I'll be putting this one down to experience I think. It has, however, opened a window on another interesting area of traditional folding knives, and I'll certainly be better prepared for when the next one comes along. Having said that it will be going into the collection and I'll be sure to use it whenever my quills need a good sharpen. :)

Incidentally, here's the other knife I picked up at the boot-sale, also for three pounds. Nothing dubious about this one I think, a good honest, working knife:

Untitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr

Untitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr

It has Wheat Sheaf Knife written on the blade and Wheatley Brothers, Sheffield are the makers. It's 3.3 inches long closed :thumbup:
 
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Nice find . I have just looked them up founded in 1933 and dissolved in 2001 . :thumbup: resisted as eye witness works millton St Sheffield .:)
 
Interesting knife Blake, any chance of some close-up pics of the blade and tang? By coincidence, I picked up a small MOP Quill Knife at a car-boot sale last week. Today's outing was abysmal though! :eek: :D

Here's a Wheatley Brothers Tackler's Knife recently gifted to me by 'Old & In The Way' :)

 
Jack Black said:
Interesting knife Blake, any chance of some close-up pics of the blade and tang? By coincidence, I picked up a small MOP Quill Knife at a car-boot sale last week. Today's outing was abysmal though! :eek: :D

Here's a Wheatley Brothers Tackler's Knife recently gifted to me by 'Old & In The Way' :)

Better luck next time Jack. I like the Wheatley Bros one. These knives were obviously made for very specific purposes, probably within the farming industry, though what a 'Tackler' is I don't know. Hopefully you'll be able to tell me. The handle on mine is obviously designed to cover the pointed end of what I think is described as a spay blade, which I think is a big clue as to what the knife was designed to be used for though, what with me being a 'Towny', will require confirmation as well. Here's a couple of close-ups of the blade and tang and I've also put some better pictures of the knife on my original post. Oh and what about a couple of pictures of that quill knife that you found last week? :thumbup:

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Untitled by Mark Saunders, on FlickrUntitled by Mark Saunders, on Flickr
 
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Thanks Robin :)

Good to see you back RCS :thumbup: Geoffrey Tweedale is giving a talk on Joseph Rodgers in Sheffield next week if you fancy joining me and ADEE? :thumbup:
 
Took me a few minutes to figure out how this related to a boot sale :) Different meaning in Texas I guess.
 
tdkfm said:
Took me a few minutes to figure out how this related to a boot sale :) Different meaning in Texas I guess.
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Yes indeed, somewhere between a fleamarket and a garage sale I think. They're quite organised here these days, and attract just as many dealers as people trying to clear out their attics. Basically a load of cars with a blanket or paste-table next to them, selling any variety of mainly second-hand items :thumbup:
 
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