- Joined
- May 18, 2014
- Messages
- 9,008
gunstockjack
One can see and share your enthusiasm for your J. Crookes Lambsfoot. Rightfully so.
Yes, very much so!Beauty in the morning light!
Great knife, gear and lighting in your photos, Mark. Looking forward to seeing more.Thanks, Dave! Great looking stag!
Thanks, Dwight. Great shot there!
Love the fishing gear and tackle, Preston.
Thanks, Jack. Great to see and learn about the pantograph machine. Lots of moving parts in that!
Great pics, Dave and Jack! The old feller's beard looks like wool!
I am very fortunate to have some fishing gear and tackle from both my Grandpa and my wife's Grandpa. I will try to get some of it out for a pic. Here's an old metal baitcasting setup of my Grandad's, that was handy.
Even with all its faults, it's still a very cool knife.unmatched bolster:
the end:
Thank you, Jack, thank you for all the historical information, it gives meaning to why one carries a Lambsfoot.
Good morning, folks.
I am starting to get settled in with some coffee and such after my vacation. Back to the grind, as they say... I have a LOT of catching up to do and am not so certain that I will be successful as I have to balance that with getting caught up on work stuff that accumulated during my absence as well.
Thank you, fellas. One of the hallmarks of the 2017 special horn is that every one of them is different from the other.
A terrific capture of that Damascus, Dwight!
I am pretty certain that is my knife there in the center, getting its etch. How cool is that?
Well, I decided that since spring is fully upon us, the leaves are returning in force and the world is full of color, why not add a bit of my own?
Guys, here are more detailed photos on the Crookes Lambs Foot for your perusal:
First a comparison shot:
unmatched bolster
protruding cover pin inside frame:
blade well
unmatched bolster:
the end:
Right, let's have a look at Barry's Johnathan Crookes knife.
First some history (I'm afraid I can only make this fairly brief, as I don't have enough spare time to do more digging around): Crookes is a common surname in Sheffield, and confusingly there were two cutlers by the name of Jonathan Crookes, who used the heart and pistol mark. The first Jonathan Crookes was based in Scotland Street, on the edge of the area once known as Cutler's Hill, because of the high preponderance of small cutlers living and working there. He was listed in local trade directories in 1774, 1787, and 1797, as a maker of 'common pocket and penknives'. The second Jonathan Crookes was very probably the grandson of the the first one, the son of Marmaduke and Martha Crookes, and baptised in 1788. Having served his apprenticeship, he became a Freeman in 1810, which means he now owned his own work, and had registered a mark with the Cutler's Company.
Jonathan Crookes was a skilled cutler, and did work for Joseph Rodgers & Son, and it was claimed that he was the 'Inventor and Sole Maker' of the famous Year Knife, which can still be seen in Kelham Island Museum, Sheffield, today. At the time of manufacture, it contained 1821 separate blades and 'accessories' (the other implements).
Crookes had a brief partnership with James Bingham in the 1820's, which was dissolved in 1827. They had manufactured penknives and razors. In 1828, Crookes established himself as a pen knife cutler in Rockingham Lane, moving to Bailey Lane in 1833, and Broad Lane in 1837. His residence was in Rockingham Lane, where he lived until 1817, with his first wife Ann, who died that year, and his son Henry, who joined the business. By 1839, Jonathan Crookes & Son had moved to Eldon St, where they stayed until the end of the nineteenth century. The firm specialised in 'superlatively finished Pen, Pocket, and Sporting Kives, Razors, etc.' In the 1830's and 1840's they made 'fly open knives' and Bowie knives. Crookes found a market for his high quality knives in the USA.
In 1841, father and son dissolved their partnership, and Jonathan Crookes is thought to have retired to live the life of a gentleman, dying in 1866, having been predeceased by his second wife Mary, in 1856. He left nearly £5,000.
While prestigious, the company never sought to become a large one, claiming in the census, to employ 30 workers in 1851, 25 men and nine boys in 1861, 36 men, 8 boys, and 6 girls in 1871, and only 15 hands a decade later.
Thomas Crookes continued the business after his father's death, and while American trade was in decline, the firm continued to produce quality cutlery, with Thomas preferring not to extend the firm's capacity beyond what he could supervise himself. He was still attending to business only days before his death in 1892, leaving more than £83,000 to his widow Ann. The couple had no children, and Ann died 4 years later, after which the firm's workshops at 95 Eldon Street were vacated, and the contents presumably sold off, or pillaged.
The prestigious mark itself was was acquired in 1893 by James Hibbert, and then, in 1907, by Joseph Allen, who continued to use the Crookes mark as a stand-alone brand on razors and pocket-knives pocket knives until at least 1951 (the advert below is from 1945). In the 1950's, H.M.Slater took over the mark, and owned it until they folded just a few years ago, using it on both pocket knives and Bowies.
Now to the knife, it appears to have a pre-1892 tang-stamp, but as happens in Sheffield, a pre-1892 tang-stamp could have been used many years later, by the later firms who owned it, or by a cutler who had access to it. The manufacture of the blade and the hafting of that blade may not have been at the same time, there are still antique blades being hafted in Sheffield today. As Levine tells us, accurately, it's the knife itself, not the stamp we must read. It may have deteriorated with age and with use, but does the knife look like it was produced in the heyday of Sheffield cutlery manufacture by one of its finest small cutlery houses? Bearing in mind what Barry says about the mismatched bolsters, possibly not. Perhaps it is more likely that the knife was manufactured at a later date when the Lambsfoot pattern had become more established, and when the firms that owned the mark produced more ordinary pocket-knives? An interesting Lambsfoot knife, and a nice one Barry
Beauty in the morning light!
Thanks, Jack. Great to see and learn about the pantograph machine. Lots of moving parts in that!
Great pics, Dave and Jack! The old feller's beard looks like wool!
I am very fortunate to have some fishing gear and tackle from both my Grandpa and my wife's Grandpa. I will try to get some of it out for a pic. Here's an old metal baitcasting setup of my Grandad's, that was handy.
Congratulations to us all on the rapidly approaching 1000 pages! It’s knives like this that have helped to make the Guardians of the Lambsfoot thread and the knives we all love into one of the most popular on this forum!
Thanks Jack! That’s a beautiful setting for your new Stag Damascus. They’re all such beautiful knives my friend!That's a great pic Ron, I think I am yet to get a pic of mine that I am really pleased with. I haven't even carried or photographed my Ironwood yet
What a fantastic picture with the waterfall in the background.
Yes, very much so!
Great knife, gear and lighting in your photos, Mark. Looking forward to seeing more.
We're are going to make the 1000 pages...
Even with all its faults, it's still a very cool knife.
Good week to all, I've been out these three days and I see we're almost on page 1000!!!
To contribute to that, I put a new picture of Guardians 19
Thanks Jack! That’s a beautiful setting for your new Stag Damascus. They’re all such beautiful knives my friend!
What a fantastic picture with the waterfall in the background.
Are we there, yet?
I want to get there so I can post a picture... and get back to workNearly! I want to get the getaways posted, so I can crack open a beer!
Hey Dylan, I am going to have to start balancing things a bit better myself, as I am neglecting my work - The Lambsfoot has taken over my life this year!
That's very cool about your knife
I was only thinking yesterday that we haven't see your gorgeous red bone Lambsfoot, nice pic
Congratulations to us all on the rapidly approaching 1000 pages! It’s knives like this that have helped to make the Guardians of the Lambsfoot thread and the knives we all love into one of the most popular on this forum!