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Comprising: a steel dagger, scabbard, navy dagger slings with goldplated buckles, in a wooden presentation boxThe guards and scabbard of the dagger are made of brass, hand-chieseld and polished, and electroplated with 24K gold.Number 108 from an edition of 500box: 28 x 47 cmCertificate ‘50 Jahre Deutsche Marine Kaiserlicher Marinedolch’, Nr. 108

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, T. ARNACHELLUM, CIRCA 1880 with broad single-edged blade formed with a clipped-back reinforced point, stamped by the maker (inverted) on one face, rectangular ricasso, iron guard, chased silver ferule decorated with foliage and silver cap pommel en suite and with a ram’s head on top, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard (losses) with spring retaining clip, 23.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 314. Arnachellum of Salem, Tamil Nadu, was a famous 19th century maker of knives, hunting spears, daggers and cutlery as recorded by Alexander Hunter who wrote in 1875 '.....For the last thirty years Arnachellum, of Salem, has perhaps acquired the greatest and the most deserved reputation for the fine quality, as well as the finish, of his knives, hunting-spears, daggers, and table-cutlery. One point in which these have surpassed almost all similar steel-manufactures in Europe, has been their tough hardness, without being brittle.....' Two other daggers by him are preserved in the Royal Collection (RCIN 38126 and 38127) and another in the Royal Armouries, Leeds, (object no. X388). Egerton stated in 1896 that they had been 'known for the last fifty years over India.' Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, ARNACHELLUM, SALEM, CIRCA 1880 with stout blade formed with a swaged spear point, stamped with the maker’s name on one face and ‘Salem’ at the ricasso, iron hilt comprising guard with rounded quillons and cap pommel, and natural staghorn grip, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with spring retaining clip, 22.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 311. Arnachellum of Salem, Tamil Nadu, was a famous 19th century maker of knives, hunting spears, daggers and cutlery as recorded by Alexander Hunter who wrote in 1875 '.....For the last thirty years Arnachellum, of Salem, has perhaps acquired the greatest and the most deserved reputation for the fine quality, as well as the finish, of his knives, hunting-spears, daggers, and table-cutlery. One point in which these have surpassed almost all similar steel-manufactures in Europe, has been their tough hardness, without being brittle.....' Two other daggers by him are preserved in the Royal Collection (RCIN 38126 and 38127) and another in the Royal Armouries, Leeds, (object no. X388). Egerton stated in 1896 that they had been 'known for the last fifty years over India.' Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, ARNACHELLUM, SALEM, CIRCA 1880 with stout blade formed with a swaged spear point, stamped with the maker’s name on one face and ‘Salem’, small rectangular ricasso, iron guard with bud-shaped quillons, and natural staghorn grip, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with spring retaining clip, 17.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 318. Arnachellum of Salem, Tamil Nadu, was a famous 19th century maker of knives, hunting spears, daggers and cutlery as recorded by Alexander Hunter who wrote in 1875 '.....For the last thirty years Arnachellum, of Salem, has perhaps acquired the greatest and the most deserved reputation for the fine quality, as well as the finish, of his knives, hunting-spears, daggers, and table-cutlery. One point in which these have surpassed almost all similar steel-manufactures in Europe, has been their tough hardness, without being brittle.....' Two other daggers by him are preserved in the Royal Collection (RCIN 38126 and 38127) and another in the Royal Armouries, Leeds, (object no. X388). Egerton stated in 1896 that they had been 'known for the last fifty years over India.' Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, ARNACHELLUM, SALEM, CIRCA 1880 with stout blade formed with a swaged spear point, stamped with the maker’s name and ‘Salem’ on one face, recessed ricasso, iron hilt comprising guard with rounded quillons and chased white metal cap pommel, and natural staghorn grip, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard (spring retaining clip missing, 20.8 cm blade Arnachellum of Salem, Tamil Nadu, was a famous 19th century maker of knives, hunting spears, daggers and cutlery as recorded by Alexander Hunter who wrote in 1875 '.....For the last thirty years Arnachellum, of Salem, has perhaps acquired the greatest and the most deserved reputation for the fine quality, as well as the finish, of his knives, hunting-spears, daggers, and table-cutlery. One point in which these have surpassed almost all similar steel-manufactures in Europe, has been their tough hardness, without being brittle.....' Two other daggers by him are preserved in the Royal Collection (RCIN 38126 and 38127) and another in the Royal Armouries, Leeds, (object no. X388). Egerton stated in 1896 that they had been 'known for the last fifty years over India.' Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, CIRCA 1880, AND TWO FURTHER KNIVES the first with stout blade formed with a swaged clipped point, with traces of the maker’s name, Austin, on one face, recessed ricasso, and natural staghorn grip with an iron ferrule and cap pommel, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with spring retaining clip; the second with broad blade formed with a swaged point, recessed ricasso, white metal guard and natural staghorn grip, in its leather scabbard; the third with broad blade, recessed ricasso stamped ‘Monarch’, brass guard and cap pommel and pineapple chequered grip, in its scabbard, the first: 19.0 cm blade (3) Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A RARE INDIAN DAGGER, BODRAJ, AURUNGABAD, SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY with broad double-edged blade, signed rectangular ricasso, iron guard, and natural staghorn scales over milled copper alloy fillets, with five folding elements including fleam, scissors, belt hook and corkscrew and with concealed tweezers (pick missing), in its iron-mounted leather scabbard, 28.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 314. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN HUNTING KNIFE, TREACHER & CO., BOMBAY & POONA, CIRCA 1880-90 with broad single-edged blade formed with a swaged spear-point and filed back-edge, etched with the maker’s details on one face, rectangular ricasso, German silver elliptical guard, milled copper alloy fillets, and natural staghorn scales retained by five rivets and with vacant German silver escutcheon, in its German silver mounted leather scabbard with spring retaining clip, 20.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 312. Treacher and Company Limited are recorded as preparers of drugs and pharmaceutical products in Bombay, Salsette Island, Maharashtra, and Poona, India, circa 1870-90. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN COPY OF A WILKINSON SHAKESPEAR DAGGER, EARLY 20TH CENTURY with broad double-edged blade stamped ‘Boput’ and ‘Nagpure’ (unclear, mis-struck) on one face, iron hilt and chequered grip with button for scabbard release, in its steel-mounted leather-covered scabbard, 26.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 313. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN DAGGER, SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY with broad stout double-edged blade filed with four grooves on the back-edge at the ricasso, iron hilt comprising guard formed of a pair of slightly up-turned quillons, cap pommel and horn gip (cracked), in its iron mounted fabric-covered wooden scabbard, 26.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 313. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

TWO INDIAN DAGGERS, LATE 19TH CENTURY the first with straight blade formed with a clipped-back point, iron guard with globular quillons, and leather-covered grip, in its scabbard with two accompanying knives; the second with single-edged blade with a clipped-back point, copper alloy guard, German silver ferrule, and horn scales in its leather scabbard, the first: 15.0 cm (2) LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, pp. 310 and 313. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, CIRCA 1880 with stout blade formed with a swaged spear point, iron hilt comprising oval guard, ferrule, and moulded cap pommel, and natural staghorn grip, in its steel-mounted leather-covered wooden scabbard with associated corkscrew with staghorn grip, 24.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 311. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, LATE 19TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point, iron military style guard, and pierced pommel, and leather-covered grip, in its steel-mounted leather scabbard with spring retaining clip, 27.3 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 315. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, LATE 19TH/EARLY 20TH CENTURY with broad heavy blade formed with a swaged point, recessed rectangular ricasso, oval steel guard, and natural staghorn grip, in its tooled leather scabbard with engraved German silver mounts, 21.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 316. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, 20TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a swaged point, stamped 'Austin Madrahozary (?)' on one face, moulded ricasso, iron guard and domed pommel, natural staghorn grip, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with spring retaining catch, 21.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 316. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, 20TH CENTURY with broad fullered blade double-edged towards the point and stamped ‘Bopot Nagpore’ on one face, moulded ricasso, iron guard, chased German silver cap pommel, and natural staghorn grip, in its steel-mounted leather-covered scabbard with spring retaining catch, 22.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 316. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN INDIAN BOWIE KNIFE, LATE 19TH/20TH CENTURY with single-edged blade swelling to a double-edged point, rectangular ricasso, lightweight guard, turned wooden grip with chased silver band in the centre and chased silver cap pommel, in its fabric-covered scabbard with chased silver locket and plain chape, 25.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 318. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A SPANISH DECORATED HUNTING DAGGER, TOLEDO, LATE 19TH CENTURY with etched tapering blade of hollow-diamond section, pierced with an elliptical aperture at the forte and inscribed ‘Fabrica de Toledo’, decorated over its surface with four differing hunting vignettes on each face within a strapwork frame on a ground of foliage, slightly recurved iron cross-piece, and natural staghorn grip, in its leather scabbard with decorated locket en suite with the blade (chape missing, light surface rust), 40.0 cm overall LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 99. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

˜ AN AMERICAN SKINNING KNIFE, ONTARIO KNIFE CO., USA, EARLY 20TH CENTURY, AND SIX FURTHER SKINNING TRADE KNIVES, 20TH CENTURY the first with signed blade and hardwood grip stamped ‘Old Hickory’, in its leather scabbard; the second inscribed ‘Bushman’s friend’ in a scroll on the blade, with ivory-mounted steel, in its leather scabbard; the third stamped ‘Lockwood Brothers’ and ‘Pampa’ on the blade, in its leather scabbard stamped en suite; the fourth by the same, in its leather scabbard; three further knives, similar, by I. Wilson, ex Syracuse St., Sheffield, with wooden grips impressed ‘Hudsons Bay Company 1870’, the first: 15.7 cm blade (7) LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, pp. 245-246. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A RARE EXTENDING FIGHTING KNIFE, PRIBYL BROTHERS, MID-19TH CENTURY with gravity locked blade stamped ‘Pribyl Bros Celebrated Cutlery’ on the back-edge in a single line and again in a semi-circle, copper alloy cross-piece, chequered scales and associated leather scabbard, 30.0 cm extended Literature David Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 215. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A RARE AMERICAN BOWIE KNIFE, DUFILHO, NEW ORLEANS, LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with tapering single-edged blade formed with a false swage and a near full-length broad fuller on each face, recessed rectangular ricasso, thick off-set oval steel guard, turned German silver ferrule and cap pommel, and tapering hardwood grip reinforced with six slender German silver bands, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with steel mounts comprising chape with moulded terminal and locket with belt stud on the outer face, 22.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 257. Alfred H. Dufilho is recorded in Paris circa 1833-53 and New Orleans at 21 Royal Street between Customs House and Canal Streets circa 1853-1907. He worked in partnership with his brother making edged weapons for the Confederacy and surgical instruments. See Bezdek 1994, p. 408. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN IRISH BOWIE KNIFE, O’NEILL & THOMPSON, 7 HENRY STREET, DUBLIN, MID-19TH CENTURY with straight single-edged blade formed with a clipped-back point, rectangular ricasso struck with the maker’s details, German silver guard, and spirally-fluted horn scales shaped for grip and retained by three rivets over German silver washers, in its leather scabbard with German silver locket and chape, each engraved with lines and the former with a leather loop on the back and the owner’s initials on the front, 22.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 279. Thompson O’Neill & Company are recorded as razor and surgical instrument makers to Her Majesty and the Lord Lieutenant at Henry Street in the Dublin directory of 1862. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

˜ A BOWIE KNIFE FOR THE AMERICAN MARKET, TILLOTSON & CO., COLUMBIA PLACE, SHEFFIELD; A BOWIE KNIFE, PROBABLY AMERICAN AND ANOTHER, LATE 19TH CENTURY the first with robust single-edged blade formed with a spear point, stamped ‘The Hunter’s Companion’, and with Federal eagle on one face, recessed rectangular ricasso struck with the maker’s details, thin oval German silver guard, a pair of natural scales, probably narwhal, and vacant escutcheon, in its tooled and gilt leather scabbard; the second with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point and a slender fuller on each face, copper alloy guard, and natural staghorn grip; the third with tapering blade formed with a clipped-back point, German silver guard, natural staghorn grip, and German silver pommel cap, in its German silver scabbard, the first: 19.2 cm (3) LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 267. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A MILITARY STYLE FOLDING LOCK KNIFE, EARLY 20TH CENTURY probably trench made, with folding locking blade formed with a clipped-back point, a pair of folding double quillons, chequered scales with blade release stud, in its leather scabbard with brass chape, 18.5 cm blade Literature David Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 219. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A FOLDING LOCK KNIFE, LATE 19TH/20TH CENTURY military style, with folding locking blade formed with a clipped-back point, chequered scales with iron release catch, vacant German silver escutcheon, in its leather scabbard with belt loop, 20.0 cm blade Literature David Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 221. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A HEAVY BOWIE KNIFE, LATE 19TH CENTURY with broad double-edged blade formed with a spear point and a full-length central fuller on each face, large thick russet iron guard, and a pair of natural staghorn scales, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with large German silver mounts, complete with suspension frog, 24.7 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 294. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, UNSIGNED, LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with tapering single-edged blade, rectangular ricasso, shaped German silver guard with scalloped edge and integral ferrule, vulcanite grips retained by three rivets and decorated with Griffins and scrolling foliage, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with German locket with decorated belt stud and chape with bulbous terminal, 26.3 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 259. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, 20TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point and stamped ’Fenton & Shore’ at the ricasso, cast copper alloy hilt comprising guard with scrolling quillons and horsehead pommel, horn grip, in its scabbard, 35.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 302. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, LATE 19TH CENTURY with single-edged blade formed with a pronounced clipped-back point, etched with a Federal eagle and inscriptions on one face including ‘America The Land of Freedom’ and 'The Patriot’s Self Defender’, recessed ricasso stamped ‘Best Quality Rough & Ready’ German silver guard, ferrule and pommel, the latter chased with flowers, and rosewood grip, in its tooled leather scabbard, 19.8 cm blade Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE IN MID-19TH CENTURY STYLE, 20TH CENTURY with robust blade formed with a pronounced clipped-back point, iron hilt comprising strongly curved tapering quillons, hardwood grip with a scalloped collar at the base, cap pommel and hardwood grip, in its leather scabbard with belt loop, 32.3 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 256. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

AN ‘ARKANSAS TOOTHPICK’ KNIFE, 20TH CENTURY with tapering double-edged blade etched with scrolling foliage and a scroll inscribed The Patriot’s Self Defender’, rectangular ricasso stamped ‘W.A.Woolley, Sheffield’ and with tiger bust and arrow mark on the reverse, German silver guard and horn scales, in tooled and gilt leather scabbard, 25.2 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 297. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A CASED BOWIE KNIFE, SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point, stamped ‘Broomhead & Thomas Celebrated American Hunting Knife’ at the ricasso, German silver hit, mother-of-pearl scales, in its engraved German silver scabbard decorated with flowers, foliage and the initials ‘JB’, in a lined and fitted case, 23.8 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 304. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A SMALL DIRK, LATE 19TH CENTURY with straight double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section, German silver cross-piece and ferrule, and red gutta-percha grip carved with a peacock oval medallion and inlaid with an engraved German silver bird and flowerhead, in its German silver mounted scabbard (chape missing), 15.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 107. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

˜ THREE PAIRS OF MOTHER-OF-PEARL MOUNTED SCISSORS, A LANCE AND A FOLDING KNIFE, LATE 19TH CENTURY the first with folding blades of triangular section, a pair of short stout ‘quillons’ at the base, mother-of-pearl mounted stem and oval grips; the second and third with mother-of-pearl mounted grips mounted together in a German-silver mounted scabbard; the fourth with German silver grip and cover; and the fifth with silver-plated locking blade retaining traces of an inscription including ’Colmore Patent’, and tortoiseshell scales, the first: 15.0 cm overall (5) Literature David Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, pp. 165. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A FOLDING LOCK KNIFE, J. LAWSON, GLASGOW, LATE 19TH CENTURY military style, with folding locking blade stamped with the maker’s details and ‘select’ on the respective faces at the ricasso, formed with a clipped-back point, slightly recurved German silver double quillons, an iron lever for blade closure, natural staghorn scales, German silver blade release stud, in its leather scabbard (belt loop missing), 21.8 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 221. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A MILITARY FOLDING LOCK KNIFE, R. MCQUEEN & SON, NEWCASTLE, CIRCA 1880-90 with folding locking blade stamped with the maker’s details at the ricasso, formed with a clipped-back point, a pair of folding German silver double quillons, brass fillets, chequered scales, German silver blade release stud, in its leather scabbard with iron chape, belt loop and cover, 23.8 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 220. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, BAGSHAW & SON, 87 CHURCH STREET, LIVERPOOL with single-edged blade formed with a clipped-back point, signed rectangular ricasso, oval steel guard, chequered scales retained by five rivets, in its leather scabbard with belt loop, 20.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 285. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

˜ AN EXCEPTIONAL HUNTING DAGGER OF PRESENTATION QUALITY, BROOKES & CROOKES, SHEFFIELD, WITH SILVER-MOUNTED SCABBARD, H. W. & L. DEE, LONDON 1877 with heavy polished blade formed with a slender fuller on each face and with knurled back-edge, etched on one face with a frosted panel filled with a hunting scene involving three elephants with howdahs, scrolling foliage, and the maker’s details with bell symbol within an oval, rectangular ricasso, shaped thick silver-plated iron cross-guard with knurled border en suite with the blade, silver-plated tang (silver with small losses), brass fillets, and a pair of ivory grip-scales retained by five rivets, each carved with finely detailed Prince of Wales’ feathers issuant from a crown at the pommel, in its original wooden scabbard encased in tooled leather decorated with large panels of trellis (small losses and minor damage), with engraved silver locket and chape, each engraved with a symmetrical design of scrolling flowers and foliage, and the locket complete with a ring for suspension, 33.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 98. The present knife was probably made as an exhibition piece with a view to winning Royal commissions, subsequent to the Prince of Wales’s tour of India in 1875-6. Brookes & Crookes was established in 1858 by two Nonconformists, John Brookes (1825-1865) and Thomas Crookes (1826-1912). In their founding year the partners entertained their employees with a day of cricket and toasting, where Brookes underlined their intention to produce first-class goods and Crookes promised fair remuneration for labour. Though common sentiments at the time, Brookes and Crookes were already known for paying bonuses for new designs. Sadly, the partnership was short-lived as Brookes died from apoplexy at West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum, near Wakefield, on 14 February 1865 aged only 39 years. Crookes took over the business helped by his works manager William Westby who moved with his family to the factory at Atlantic Works in 1861. The ‘Bell’ trade mark became a badge of excellence and they were famed for the variety of their sportsman’s and multi-blade knives. A UK Ivory Act 2018 certificate for this lot will be made available to the purchaser Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JONATHAN CROOKES, EARLY 20TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point, rectangular ricasso struck with the maker’s name and heart and pistol mark, (areas of light pitting), recurved German silver guard, natural staghorn scales retained by six rivets, in its leather scabbard with belt loop, 24.7 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 268. Jonathan Crookes (1778-1866) worked for Joseph Rodgers & Sons and was apparently involved with the production of Rodgers’ famous Year Knife, credited in a directory advertisement of 1884 as, ‘Inventor and Sole Maker of that Unique and Superb Specimen of Cutlery, containing Eighteen Hundred and Twenty-one Blades, with Different Instruments, value 200 guineas’. He is recorded as a manufacturer of pen knives in Rockingham Lane in 1828 and by 1839, Jonathan Crookes & Son had moved to Eldon Street, close to Wostenholm's Washington Works, where it remained until the end of the nineteenth century. After Jonathan's death, his son Henry continued the business and maintained his father’s emphasis on quality and limited output. In 1896, Henry's widow died and the mark was acquired by Joseph Allen, at Ecclesall Works, 245 Rockingham Street. Crookes continued to be advertised as a stand-alone name at that address. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A SMALL BOWIE KNIFE, JONATHAN CROOKES, SHEFFIELD, LATE 19TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point, recessed rectangular ricasso struck with the maker’s name and heart and pistol mark, German silver hilt comprising recurved guard, ferrule and pommel each decorated with scrolling foliage in low relief, and mother-of-pearl grip, in its German silver mounted leather scabbard with belt loop,14.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 268. Jonathan Crookes (1778-1866) worked for Joseph Rodgers & Sons and was apparently involved with the production of Rodgers’ famous Year Knife, credited in a directory advertisement of 1884 as, ‘Inventor and Sole Maker of that Unique and Superb Specimen of Cutlery, containing Eighteen Hundred and Twenty-one Blades, with Different Instruments, value 200 guineas’. He is recorded as a manufacturer of pen knives in Rockingham Lane in 1828 and by 1839, Jonathan Crookes & Son had moved to Eldon Street, close to Wostenholm's Washington Works, where it remained until the end of the nineteenth century. After Jonathan's death, his son Henry continued the business and maintained his father’s emphasis on quality and limited output. In 1896, Henry's widow died and the mark was acquired by Joseph Allen, at Ecclesall Works, 245 Rockingham Street. Crookes continued to be advertised as a stand-alone name at that address. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A DIRK, JONATHAN CROOKES, SHEFFIELD, LATE 19TH CENTURY, ANOTHER DIRK, LINGARD, PEACROFT, SHEFFIELD AND TWO FURTHER DIRKS, LATE 19TH/20TH CENTURY the first with tapering blade, rectangular ricasso signed by the maker and with heart and pistol mark, German silver guard, ferrule and pommel, the latter two cast with scrolls in low relief, and ivorine grip, in its tooled and gilt leather scabbard with white metal mounts; the second with tapering blade of diamond section etched with foliage and the inscription ‘never draw me without reason nor sheath me without honour’, moulded white metal hilt comprising oval guard and fluted grip, in its tooled and gilt leather scabbard (areas of wear); the third with tapering blade double-edged towards the point and writhen over the back-edge, white metal neo rococo hilt cast in low relief including grip decorated with scrolls, in its tooled leather scabbard; the fourth with tapering double-edged blade, neo-rococo German silver hilt cast in low relief, in its scabbard (incomplete), the first: 20.8 cm (4) LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 271. Jonathan Crookes (1778-1866) worked for Joseph Rodgers & Sons and was apparently involved with the production of Rodgers’ famous Year Knife, credited in a directory advertisement of 1884 as, ‘Inventor and Sole Maker of that Unique and Superb Specimen of Cutlery, containing Eighteen Hundred and Twenty-one Blades, with Different Instruments, value 200 guineas’. He is recorded as a manufacturer of pen knives in Rockingham Lane in 1828 and by 1839, Jonathan Crookes & Son had moved to Eldon Street, close to Wostenholm's Washington Works, where it remained until the end of the nineteenth century. After Jonathan's death, his son Henry continued the business and maintained his father’s emphasis on quality and limited output. In 1896, Henry's widow died and the mark was acquired by Joseph Allen, at Ecclesall Works, 245 Rockingham Street. Crookes continued to be advertised as a stand-alone name at that address. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A MILITARY FOLDING LOCK KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, CIRCA 1880-90 with folding locking blade stamped with the maker’s details and star and cross mark on one face, formed with a clipped-back point, a pair of folding white metal wavy double quillons, brass fillets, chequered scales, iron blade lock and release lever, in its leather scabbard belt loop, 19.0 cm LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 220. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, CIRCA 1880 with single-edged blade formed with a false swage and stamped with the maker’s details including cross and star mark on one face, German silver hilt comprising shaped guard with integral ferrule, back-strap shaped for the fingers and domed pommel, and chequered horn grips retained by four rivets, in its leather scabbard with large shaped German silver mounts and later belt loop, 22.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 259. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A FINE BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, LATE 19TH CENTURY with tapering blade formed with a swaged clipped-back point, finely chevron-milled back edge with a fuller beneath on each face, stamped with the maker’s details and star and cross mark, German silver hilt comprising cross-piece with short recurved quillons with globular terminals and gadrooned cap pommel and natural staghorn grip, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with German silver chape with moulded terminals, and locket with flower-shaped belt stud, 20.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 264. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET SHEFFIELD MADE FOR MANTON & CO. CALCUTTA, LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with single-edged blade formed with a spear point, struck with the maker’s and retailer’s details on one face, recessed rectangular ricasso, German silver oval guard, natural staghorn grip and German silver cap pommel (one rivet missing), in its leather scabbard with belt loop, 20.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 270. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, NO. 6 NORFOLK ST., SHEFFIELD, LATE 19TH CENTURY with straight blade formed with a clipped-back point and writhen back-edge accompanied by a long slender fuller on each face, signed on one face and with cross and star mark, rectangular ricasso, German silver hilt comprising recurved guard with globular terminals and gadrooned cap pommel, and natural staghorn grip, in its leather scabbard with belt loop, 18.2 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 296. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A FINE BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO HER MAJESTY, LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with broad double-edged blade of flattened-diamond section, formed with a spear point and three small elliptical indents on each face along the median, rectangular ricasso of flattened-hexagonal action struck with the maker’s details, the Royal letters ‘VR’ divided by a crown, and star and cross mark, German silver hilt comprising straight guard with integral ferrule and cap pommel, and natural staghorn grip, in its leather-covered wooden scabbard with German silver chape and locket, the latter with a button for a frog, 21.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 264. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A FINE BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point, struck with the maker’s details and star and cross mark on one face, German silver hilt shaped for grip and formed in one piece, including straight guard with integral ferrule and cap pommel, and a pair of mother-of-pearl scales retained by five rivets, in its leather scabbard with German silver locket and chape and belt loop with vacant German silver escutcheon, 15.3 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 264. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE BY JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with broad single-edged blade formed with a spear point, recessed rectangular ricasso struck with the maker’s details, the royal letters ‘VR’ divided by a crown, and cross and star mark, German silver hilt comprising two-piece ‘split’ guard and pommel each decorated with a design of raised dots and stylised foliage in low relief, and chequered horn scales retained by two rivets, in associated leather scabbard with German silver locket and chape, 20.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 265. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point, struck with the maker’s details and star and cross mark on one face (small areas of light pitting), oval German silver guard, and natural staghorn scales retained by five rivets, in its leather scabbard with large German silver locket and chape, 20.8 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 265. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, LATE 19TH CENTURY with straight blade formed with a clipped-back point, signed on one face and with star and cross mark (worn), German silver hilt shaped for the fingers, including oval guard and pommel, and a pair of natural staghorn scales retained by four rivets, in its pigskin scabbard with German silver locket, 21.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 303. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A FINE BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, LATE 19TH CENTURY with tapering blade formed with a swaged clipped-back point, finely scallop-milled back edge with a fuller beneath on each face, stamped with the maker’s details in small letters and with star and cross mark, German silver hilt comprising shaped cross-piece and flattened globular pommel and natural staghorn grip carved with a leaf on one face, in its leather scabbard and with a belt loop, 18.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 264. Described by the author as his favourite Bowie knife. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, LATE 19TH CENTURY with single-edged fullered blade formed with a false swage, rectangular ricasso stamped with the maker’s details including cross and star mark, iron guard, German silver pommel and natural staghorn grip, in leather scabbard, 25.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 261. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A FINE BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO HER MAJESTY, LAST QUARTER OF THE 19TH CENTURY with broad blade formed with a clipped-back point, struck with the maker’s details, the royal letters ‘VR’ divided by a crown and star and cross mark on one face, the reverse etched ‘Never draw me without reason’ and ‘nor sheath me without honour’ (faint in places), oval German silver guard, and chequered horn scales retained by three rivets, in its leather scabbard with German silver locket and chape and belt loop with vacant German silver escutcheon, 15.3 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 265. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, EARLY 20TH CENTURY with tapering blade formed with a clipped-back point, rectangular ricasso stamped with the maker’s details including cross and star mark and the Royal letters ‘ER’ divided by a crown, German silver guard with globular terminals, natural staghorn scales, vacant German silver escutcheon in its German silver-mounted leather scabbard with belt loop, 20.2 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 261. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A BOWIE KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, EARLY 20TH CENTURY with tapering blade formed with a spear point, rectangular ricasso stamped with the maker’s details including cross and star mark and the Royal letters ‘GR’ divided by a crown, German silver oval guard, natural staghorn scales, in its leather scabbard with belt loop, embossed ‘H. Hidden’, 17.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 261. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A FIXED-BLADE CAMPAIGN KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO HER MAJESTY, LATE 19TH CENTURY, POSSIBLY MADE FOR PRESENTATION BY ALBERT EDWARD, PRINCE OF WALES AND LATER KING EDWARD VII (1841-1910) with fixed blade with clipped-back point and filed back-edge, struck with the maker’s details, ‘VR’ divided by a crown, and star and cross, with four folding elements including corkscrew, button hook and awl, further accessories including tweezers, pincers, scissors and pricker concealed in the German silver pommel, the latter engraved ‘1875’ and ‘AE’, chequered horn scales, in its German silver-mounted leather scabbard engraved ‘AE’ ‘1875’ and with the crowned Most Noble Order of the Garter on the locket, with a loop for suspension, 22.0 cm overall (the knife) LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 97. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A HUNTING KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS CUTLERS TO HER MAJESTY, SHEFFIELD, CIRCA 1860 with tapering blade formed with a spear point, stamped with the maker’s details on one face, and ‘The Hunter’s Companion’ in script, rectangular ricasso struck with star and cross mark, German silver hilt comprising recurved quillons with flattened scrolling terminals, cap pommel (fitted with later copper alloy oval), and spirally-bound fishskin-covered grip, in its leather scabbard with German silver chape and locket, the latter with a belt hook, 23.5 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 262. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A HUNTING KNIFE, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS CUTLERS TO HER MAJESTY, SHEFFIELD, CIRCA 1860 with tapering blade formed with a false swage, engraved ‘The Hunter’s Companion’ in script, rectangular ricasso stamped with the maker’s details and star and cross mark, iron cross-guard, German silver small ferule, and shaped chequered grip, in its leather scabbard with German silver locket and chape, the former with an iron spring catch, 20.4 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 262. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

A SMALL DIRK, JOSEPH RODGERS & SONS, CUTLERS TO THEIR MAJESTIES, NO. 6 NORFOLK STREET, SHEFFIELD, CIRCA 1880 with double-edged polished blade of diamond section swelling towards the point, stamped with the maker’s details including cross and star mark on one face, German silver recurved guard, mother-of-pearl grip. In its German silver-mounted leather scabbard and in fine condition throughout, 13.0 cm blade LiteratureDavid Hayden-Wright, The Heritage of English Knives, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 2008, p. 259. In the nineteenth century, Rodgers had an unsurpassed reputation and history that was synonymous with the cutlery trade. The family's first cutler, John Rodgers (1701-85), is recorded around 1724, with a workshop near the present cathedral. In the same year the Company of Cutlers 'let' him a mark, a Star and Maltese Cross, which became world famous in later years. John Rodgers had three sons, John (1731-1811), Joseph (1743-1821), and Maurice (c.1747-1824) who joined the business and succeeded him. They are recorded with more workshops by 1780 and the business soon extended to occupy a nearby block of buildings at 6 Norfolk Street, an address that became as famous as Rodgers’ trade mark. By the early 19th century their trade had expanded from pen and pocket knives to include table cutlery and scissors. By 1817 the General Sheffield Directory lists the firm as ‘merchants, factors, table and pocket knife, and razor manufacturers’. In 1821 John’s son Joseph died and his sons continued the business under the leadership of the younger John (grandson of the founder). John was described as ‘unobtrusive in his manner’ but was ambitious and one of the founding partners of the Sheffield Banking Co. He had a flair for marketing and travelled the country taking orders. Not only was his firm’s output and range greater than any other Sheffield firm, but its quality was superior. The company’s manifesto states: ‘The principle on which the manufacture of cutlery is carried on by this firm is – quality first … [and] … price comes second’. He began making exhibitions knives and presented George IV with a minute specimen of cutlery with 57 blades, which occupied only an inch [25mm] when closed. In 1822, Rodgers’ was awarded its first Royal Warrant. Another fourteen royal appointments, from British and overseas royal dignitaries, followed over the next eighty years, and its company history was duly titled: Under Five Sovereigns. John Rodgers next commissioned the Year Knife, with a blade for every year (1821) and opened his sensational cutlery showroom in Norfolk Street where visitors came to marvel at Rodgers’ creations. Perhaps the greatest highlight shown there was the Norfolk Knife, an over 30 inch long sportsman’s knife with 75 blades and tools, that Rodgers’ produced for the Great Exhibition in 1851. The showroom proved particularly popular with Americans whose trade played a significant role in the firm’s expansion. Additionally, they looked East, with agents in Calcutta, Bombay, and Hong Kong by the mid-19th century. These markets enabled Rodgers to become the largest cutlery factory in Sheffield. The number of workmen appears to have grown from about 300 in the late 1820s, to over 500 in the 1840s. In 1871 the business became a limited company with Joseph Rodgers (1828-1883), grandson of the Joseph Rodgers who had died in 1821 and Robert Newbold as managing directors. Joseph died on 12 May 1883 and Newbold became the chairman and managing director. The firm continued to expand with offices in London, New York, New Orleans, Montreal, Toronto, Calcutta, Bombay and Havana. Their work force in 1871 was around 1,200 and accounted for one-seventh of all Sheffield’s American cutlery trade. In 1876 the American market was stagnating and Rodgers’ began looking elsewhere with a focus on trade in the Middle East, India and Australia. Notably the name ‘Rujjus’ or ‘Rojers’ was said to have entered the language as an adjective expressing superb quality in Persia, India and Ceylon. By 1888, the value of Rodgers’ shares had more than doubled and, in 1889, a silver and electro-plate showroom was opened in London. At this time, Rodgers acquired the scissors business of Joseph Hobson & Son. Rodgers’ produced catalogues that were packed with every type of knife imaginable. Pocket knives were made in scores of different styles. Ornate daggers and Bowie knives and complicated horseman’s knives were made routinely. Some patterns, such as the Congress knife and Wharncliffe knife, were Rodgers’ own design. The Wharncliffe – with its serpentine handle and beaked master blade – was apparently designed after a dinner attended by Rodgers’ patron Lord Wharncliffe. The firm’s workmanship was usually backed by the best materials. Rodgers’ ivory cellar in Norfolk Street was crammed with giant tusks and was regarded as one of the hidden sights of the town. Four or five men were constantly employed in sawing the tusks, and around twenty four tons of ivory were used a year around 1882. Rodgers’ appetite for stag was no less insatiable: deer horns and antlers filled another cellar and pearl from the Philippines and was also cut there. Around 1890, Rodgers’ began forging its own shear steel and in 1894 they began melting crucible steel. Newbold retired in 1890 and the grandsons of Maurice Rodgers, Maurice George Rodgers (1855-1898) and John Rodgers (1856-1919), became joint-managing directors. The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 halved their American business and consequently they toured South Africa. Despite increasing foreign competition and the decline of the American market, Rodgers’ prospered before the First World War. However, workers’ wages were cut while the partners continued to take significant dividend which culminated in a prolonged and bitter strike. The First World War saw a decline in the business which continued steadily until the 1975 when it was absorbed by Richards and ceased trading in 1983. Joseph Rodgers & Sons left an enduring legacy in its knives. Its dazzling exhibition pieces and other fine cutlery show that the company’s reputation as Sheffield’s foremost knife maker was well founded. Abbreviated from Geoffrey Tweedale 2019. Part proceeds to benefit the Acquisition Fund of the Arms and Armor department, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.