Antique \'Papillon\' (butterfly) twin-blade straight razor from early 19th-century
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Antique \'Papillon\' (butterfly) twin-blade straight razor from early 19th-century:
$316.00
These razor rareties pop up on very occasionally. It used to beclaimed that they were made by French prisoners of war held captive in England.Whilst it is true that captured Napoleonic troops did produce all manner ofartisanal products made from ivory, bone, wood and even straw, it is unlikelythese twin-bladed razors were made by POWs as they would not have had access tofine Sheffield steel.
Further evidence is that a \'Papillon\' razor appeared inan early 19th century French trade catalogue and it is unlikely POW-made goodswere sold to wholesalers. Much more likely is that they were made by itinerantartisans or independent homeworkers.
I have found no research material to pinpoint their place of manufacture.
This ancient beauty is completely original and probably dates fromaround 1815.
It has two high quality cast steel blades both with \'Sheffield\'stamped into the shank.
It is likely these blades were bought in and not madeby the razor maker.
The style, shape and grind of the blades are consistent with the1815 era. The notch in the nose, the wedge grind rather than hollow grind, thelack of tang, the shoulder and spine shape all lend themselves to early19th-century razors. Both blades are 6/8. The bone scales and pins are alsotypical of the period.
The wedge appears to be made from a piece of redmahogany.
The front scale has been intricately carved with amilitary uniform in the style of an early 19th-century English infantry officer,after carving it has been coloured.The carving is deep-etched as if done with a fine chisel rather than pyrographyor scrimshaw methods.
What is astonishing is that the applied colours arealmost all intact after more than 200 years. The area around the feet, thetassle, the tunic fastenings, epaulette and cuffs are in gold, and there are areasof royal blue, crimson and black. The motif above the soldier is of crossedFlags, but apart from the faintest trace of red on the left-hand Flag theoriginal Flag colours have been worn away.
All in all this is a unique museum quality razor that deserves tobe the centre piece of a fine collection.
Combinedshipping always available.
Antique \'Papillon\' (butterfly) twin-blade straight razor from early 19th-century:
$316.00