Description: S.E.K. BOOK PRISTINE EXHIBITION PEARL FILEWORKED 5 BLADES&SPRINGS NOWILL 1860-80 S.E.K. BOOK PRISTINE EXHIBITION PEARL FILEWORKED 5 BLADES&SPRINGS NOWILL 1860-80 ANTIQUE PRISTINE MINT UNSHARPENED UNCARRIED PRESENTATION EXHIBITION MOTHER OF PEARL POCKET KNIFE WITH 5 EXHIBITION FILE WORKED BLADE BACKS ~ SILVER EXCUTCHEON & PINS GOLD WASHED & FILE WORKED BACK SPRINGS INSIDE & OUTSIDE GOLD WASHED MILLED LINERS ~ GENTLEMAN’S POCKET KNIFE BY J. NOWILL & SONS / SHEFFIELD ~ CIRCA 1860's - 1880's PUBLISHED, FULL PAGE 243 IN SHEFFIELD EXHIBITION KNIFE BOOK WITH IMPORTANT PROVENANCE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is an extremely high quality, pristine mint condition, unsharpened, uncarried antique 5 bladed Sheffield made bolsterless Exhibition quality pocketknife in a slightly unequal end Senator pattern, by the renowned Cutlery firm of J. Nowill & Sons, Sheffield. Note that this is an Exhibition pocketknife that was never intended for use. This is the exact knife shown in the full-page publication of Sheffield Knife Book on page 243, from the collection of Bill Adams, Iconic Dealer and Collector and past President of the Antique Bowie Knife Association. This piece was relegated to the Factory collection safe after the 19th C. Exhibitions and remained there until it was deaccessioned from the firm and eventually became a presentation piece due to the escutcheon inscription; and still remains in unsharpened, uncarried, pristine mint condition. As was a period practice, perhaps it was presented to a high ranking official of the Cutlery firm or gifted to a long-term employee upon retirement; some of which had 50 or more years of service to the firm. A similar Exhibition quality knife could have been custom made to order for Presentation by a well to do Gentleman of means who could have afforded a multi-bladed quality pocketknife like this. Presentations between Wealthy Men was quite common, and it was fashionable for a Gentlemen to carry a fancy pocketknife as a necessary accessory; and present it in Victorian flourish to show off when used; much like a pocket watch, snuff box, cigar case or match safe accoutrement. John Nowill & Sons was one of the earliest Sheffield Cutler families to record their trademark; the letter D* and a star was granted in 1700 to Thomas Nowill (b. 1676 – d. 1704). After his death, the mark was reassigned to his younger brother William Nowill (b. 1686- d.?). The D* mark was passed to William’s son David Nowill (b. 1733 – d.1775) in 1764. David Nowill’s son, Thomas Nowill (b. 1758 – d. 1836) was granted his freedom in 1785 and expanded the business by partnering with Thomas Hague in Hauge & Nowill, Garden Street, until Hague’s death in 1797. Most of their items were sold to merchants in Sheffield, Birmingham, and London. In 1811, the Thomas Nowill & Son firm was listed as having a workforce between 10 and 30. Thomas Nowill retired in 1825. His sons William (b. 1786 d. 1855?) and John Nowill (b. 1788 – d. 1850) were first listed in the Sheffield directory of 1828 of manufacturers of fancy pen and pocketknives at 7 Meadow St. John Nowill married in 1811 and had 8 sons which began a long line of succession with multiple sons born in multiple extended families in this acclaimed Sheffield Cutlery family history. The crossed keys trademark was acquired in 1842. John’s son William was assigned the D* mark but died in 1845, aged 30. The John Nowill & Sons firm continued with 5 of the remaining brothers, with John Nowill remaining as the Senior partner. By 1851 the firm expanded to 50 men and boys. Nowill & Sons were a Premier Sheffield Cutler, and their star D and Crossed Key trademarks were a badge of excellence with the highest artisanship and best workmanship. The firm earned acclaim and won a prized medal at the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London and Paris Exhibition of 1855. Nowill had a London office and had overseas business in the Near East, with agents in Constantinople, Athens, and Egypt. By 1881, the workforce was 100 men, 10 boys and 15 women. John Nowill passed in 1900, but his marriage had produced 5 sons, who continued the family Legacy. This is a very high-quality pocketknife made in Sheffield, the knife capitol of the world at the time, and for hundreds of years prior. This superb pocketknife is bolsterless, i.e., there are no metal bolsters at the pivot pins to support the blades. This fancy style was preferred by pocketknife Master Cutlers who were demonstrating their skill to set blade pins flush in delicate scale material; an art form that could only be accomplished by an experienced Master fitter. The silver pins are a characteristic only found on Exhibition knives never intended for use. This Exhibition knife is completely handmade, i.e., hand forged, hand ground, hand tempered, hand polished and hand fitted, with only simple hand tools, and was created by the Master Cutlers of the firm. All 5 blades are in pristine mint, unsharpened, uncarried condition with the original and distinctive Crocus of Iron final mirror polish of the blades; a high-quality signature polish used by Sheffield Cutlers on all fine 19th century handmade knives. This final polish was done on wooden wheel with a leather band coated with adhesive and exceptionally fine black powder that was painstakingly applied to Antique Sheffield blades. Overall, 3 5/8" long closed, and tapers slightly from 1/2” to 3/8" x 7/16" thick and weighs 2 ounces or 58 grams. There are 3 back springs, and all 3 are Exhibition hand file worked on the inside with the two inside outer back springs gold washed with a non-gold washed center spring for emphasis. The two outside back springs are Exhibition hand filed in repetitive half circles resembling a wave pattern; and are gold washed, en suite with the inside back springs. Nice remnants of the original delicate gold wash in the Exhibition recessed file worked scalloped cut out patterns of the 2 outside back springs back springs remains from the very light handling since the 1860’s-80’s. The liners are milled (jimped) and are gold washed. This knife does NOT have the England hot stamping used on most Sheffield knives made for export beginning in 1891; and this piece dates to the 1860's - 1880's period. All the blades are hot stamped with 2 different Maker mark stampings, one on each side of the ricasso. These hallmark stamping would show prominently when either side of the knife is open for display during an Exhibition. The 2 3/4" Master blade has swedge grind on both sides, a long pull that goes through the ricasso, and is in pristine condition. The front ricasso is hot stamped, J NOWIL, & SONS, SHEFFIELD. The rear ricasso is hot stamped *over D crossed keys Maker mark. The top of the Master blade has 3 separate file worked panels; the outside two have the Exhibition super fine signature Joseph Rodgers style mini chevron hand file worked back, and a center panel with an arrow pattern. The front 1 5/8” pen blade has a swedge grind on both sides of the tip and a long pull that goes through the ricasso and is in pristine condition with a few naturally occurring micro pin size spots of natural aging. The front ricasso is hot stamped, J NOWIL, & SONS, SHEFFIELD. The rear ricasso is hot stamped *over D crossed keys Maker mark. The blade back is exhibition hand file worked back pattern, en suite with the back springs. The back 1 5/8” pen blade has a swedge grind on both sides of the tip and a long pull that goes through the ricasso and is in pristine condition. The front ricasso is hot stamped, J NOWIL, & SONS, SHEFFIELD. The rear ricasso is hot stamped *over D crossed keys Maker mark. Exhibition hand file worked back pattern, en suite with the back springs. The 1 9/16” manicure blade has a long pull that goes through the ricasso. The front ricasso is hot stamped, J NOWIL, & SONS, SHEFFIELD. The rear ricasso is hot stamped *over D crossed keys Maker mark and is in pristine condition with Exhibition hand file worked back pattern, en suite with the back springs. Both sides have hand line engraved corrugated surfaces, and the tip has swedge grind on both sides with a sharpened knife blade tip. The 1 5/8” quill blade has a long pull that goes through the ricasso and has swedge grind on both sides of the tip. The front ricasso is hot stamped, J NOWIL, & SONS, SHEFFIELD. The rear ricasso is hot stamped *over D crossed keys Maker mark and is in pristine condition. Exhibition hand file worked back pattern, en suite with the back springs. Note that quill blades were uses to sharpen goose quills to a sharp point for ink dipping to sign a document or write a letter. Not everyone knew how to write nor needed a quill blade. Even though metal tipped dip pens were available since the mid 1830’s, it was still fashionable for a Gentleman to produce his fancy Pocket knife with Victorian flourish, to assist in the process of signing a document. All the blades stay open tightly with no wiggle, and all have a strong snap with no nicks or sharpening to the blade edges, with full tips, as new. Note the blade pivots have never been oiled. There is no need to do so and should not be done as oil can leak into the liners and permanently discolor the Exhibition Mother of Pearl. The spring tension on the blades are like new, and it is advised to use the thin rounded flat edge of a blade opening tool to avoid partially opening the blades via thumb nail and having the blade hard snap back into the frame. You also do not want to snap the blades shut on any mint antique knife, as it is possible the blade could bottom out and chip, bend or rub the knife edge or tip on the inside of the back spring or liner and create a rub mark. All Antique knives, even pristine mint examples, will have some minute telltale signs of aging to a trained eye. The extreme age of the steel blades must be taken into consideration in any Antique knife. Age spots are a naturally occurring and take a century to create and is desirous as it shows genuine antique aging, otherwise one might think the knife was made yesterday. I can only fine 2 minuscule specs of aging on the blades of this 140 – 160 years old knife that are almost impossible to see with the naked eye. These blades are in rare, pristine mint, unsharpened uncarried condition with all the original Crocus of Iron polish. Note the knife is bolsterless, i.e., there are no metal ends to secure the blade pins. This style was favored by Master cutlers in Exhibition knives to show off their Cutlery skill, a.k.a., showing off. There are only 3 pins holding this knife together, and all 3 pins are silver; used to assemble the knife as to not risk shattering the Exhibition Mother of Pearls scales yet allow the knife to open and close as a production knife made for use. The Shield escutcheon is made from silver, inlaid with a parser, or bow fiddle, affixed with 2 tiny pins, is engraved J. Cherrey. The scales are individually created by nature; and this pattern, color and translucence is revered by advanced collectors. The Exhibition grade Mother of Pearl scales were selected for showing the naturally occurring desirous ripples created by the oyster over time, with multi-colors that are highlighted in the sunlight with pearl before the oceans became polluted and the exceptional. All-natural material shrinks over time, which is perfectly normal on an Antique knife, even Mother of Pearl. However, these scales have no chips, nicks, pin cracks or damage. Both sides of the scales have 2 shallow, easy opener cutout indentation to access the blade nicks. Almost all pocketknives show pocket wear to the delicate scales and have a dull appearance to the surface when a knife is carried and rubbed inside a pocket over time. These scales have a beautiful color and original polish that are especially noticeable in the sunlight. This demonstrates the knife has never been carried and has been put up and rarely handled. Note: it is extremely difficult to photograph shiny surfaces; and I took many dozens of images to try to eliminate shadows and capture the details. Also note the images are many times larger than actual size and exaggerate the details. Overall, this Connoisseur quality Antique 5 bladed Gentleman's pocketknife is in pristine mint, unsharpened, uncarried condition; as good as it gets, with important provenance. This would be an excellent investment, and perfect for any Sheffield, Antique, pocketknife, 19th century or smalls collection. This connoisseur quality and condition knife comes with the period black gold embossed cardboard 2-piece slip box for pocket carrying and storage. This Exhibition quality knife was custom made, and would have been worthy of any of the Knife Exhibitions that were growing in popularity in the 2nd half of the 1800's. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ASK A MODERN KNIFE MAKER IF HE COULD HAND FORGE, HAND GRIND, HAND TEMPER, HAND FILE, HAND FIT, HAND POLISH A 5 BLADED BOLSTERLESS EXHIBITION KNIFE LIKE THIS USING ONLY SIMPLE HAND TOOLS, SUCH AS HAMMERS, FILES, GRINDSTONES AND DRILLS; AND WHAT HE WOULD CHARGE? PROVENANCE: Ex.: Bill Adams collection, from the early 1970’s until the late 1990’s. Bill was president of Atlanta Cutlery Corporation and the first President of the Antique Bowie Knife Association. Bill first traveled to Sheffield in 1971, visited some of the old cutlery factories, and returned with many Sheffield cutlery treasures. This Nowill Exhibition knife is one of them. This exact knife is a full page published and showcased Exhibition pocketknife on page 243 of the 1999 Sheffield Exhibition Knife Book and attributed to the Bill Adams Collection. Note that the Introduction of this book is also written also by Bill Adams. On page 9, Bill answered his own question; how good are these knives? “They are the best. The quality of those old Sheffield cutlers made will never be equaled- and they did it all with antiquated hand tools, without any modern power tools, working by the dim light of a grey English sky that filtered through a small window covered with the grime of 50 years of coal smoke.” “Welcome to and exposition of the finest cutlery in the world – the finest in the history of the world”. The S.E.K.B. is a display of the finest knives the cutlery world has to offer the World. Exhibition knives were created by Master Cutlers only to be displayed, then retired to the factory collections. These knives were made for quality, beauty, display, culture, and posterity; and never intended for sale or use. They were show pieces for Exhibitions, Display and to compete in Cutlery competitions for gold and silver medals. Many of the knives in the Sheffield Exhibition Knife Book came from Bill Adams. In 1971, the Iconic Sheffield Cutlery firm of I*XL George Wostenholm was sold to Joseph Rodgers, and the new company was named Rodgers-Wostenholm. Bill Adams bought as many of their fine knives as he could, and also purchased some Exhibition Show pieces found in an old safe at the Joseph Rodgers factory. In the 1970’s & 80’s, Bill sold many of these showpiece knives to two Tennessee collectors; Harris Florida who collected IXL knives, and Tom Rodgers who collected Joseph Rodgers knives; both from Tennesse. These two historical and Iconic lifetime collections created the basis for the S.E.K.B., along with other mint Sheffield knives added from Iconic Dealer Collectors Bill Adams, Jim Taylor, David Petty, Bruce Voyles and the 3 authors of the S.E.K.B., along with a few other notable Mint Exhibition knives that were added to the book such the extraordinary New England Treasure Trove Knives. The number of surviving examples of mint, unsharpened, uncarried, connoisseur investment quality 1800’s antique knives is extremely limited, rarely offered, and an investment for a discerning collector. 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Price: 4495.5 USD
Location: Fairfield, California
End Time: 2024-08-15T02:15:59.000Z
Shipping Cost: 0 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Brand: NOWILL & SONS / SHEFFIELD
Type: EXHIBITION POCKET KNIFE
Year: 1860's - 1880's
Original/Reproduction: ORGINAL & AUTHENTIC
Number of Blades: FIVE
Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
Handle Material: EXHIBITION MOTHER OF PEARL
Handmade: Yes
