Thread: Help Identifying

Looks like a 1700's French razor by the lack of a tail.

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Anyone have any thoughts?

I think you are right, straight scales and the tang flowing into the blade suggest that era to me also.

I haven't recieved it yet to see any markings. I have wanted to join the 1700's club for quite some time. I have done some restors before but this is by far the oldest.

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Here it is. I set the bevel and cleaned it up. I then honed it and it is fully functional

The real age of it is difficult to tell, in absence of any mark. The scales seem younger than 1700, but the blade is probably the most difficult to date I ever seen on this forum. There are just two possibilities:

1) It is a real XVIII century razor that has been rescaled
2) It is a "restauration" razor, made in France in the XIX century in the very fashioned (at the time) shape of one century before.

My personal opinion tends toward the first option, but you should personally see a number of very old razors to confront yours with to be sure.

However it is, it's a blade to be proud of!

I do not think the scales are original. Def not horn but Ebony or a dark wood. This is very difficult to age. I checked the Guild to razors and it looks exactly of that from the 1750's to 1780's. There is a small crescent like mark on the Tang but it could be a gash.

Originally Posted by Mauri

The real age of it is difficult to tell, in absence of any mark. The scales seem younger than 1700, but the blade is probably the most difficult to date I ever seen on this forum. There are just two possibilities:

1) It is a real XVIII century razor that has been rescaled
2) It is a "restauration" razor, made in France in the XIX century in the very fashioned (at the time) shape of one century before.

My personal opinion tends toward the first option, but you should personally see a number of very old razors to confront yours with to be sure.

However it is, it's a blade to be proud of!

Originally Posted by ItalianJoe

I do not think the scales are original. Def not horn but Ebony or a dark wood. This is very difficult to age. I checked the Guild to razors and it looks exactly of that from the 1750's to 1780's. There is a small crescent like mark on the Tang but it could be a gash.

After some research on the Straight Razor Guild it looks as if this razor was made 1750-1790's give or take. I saw some pics on other posts. The scales are infact ebony so I doubt they are original (highly doubt). Some razors of this fashion were made with out cutler marks in that time period. Still a mystery

Ok I found a mark. It seems to say "perret". Would that be jean jacques perret ? He invented The first saftey razor back in 1770. It is very faint but I can make it out. I know he was a very skilled cutler back in the 1700's and he wrote several books on shaving. One of his books "how to shave oneself" introduced the saftey razor concept. If he made this razor that would date this razor mid 1700's. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Well if you found a Perret you've got one of the most significant pieces of history in our art! If you could give us a close up picture of the mark, that would be great!