1820 - 1830
The biggest change in this decade was the discovery, by Michael Faraday, of 'silver
steel' - the addition of silver to steel in a proportion of 99.98% steel to 0.02%
silver - not much but it made a huge difference, if only to the appearance of the
metal. The first signs of hollow grinding came in around 1825 and it took another
60 years to bring that process to its final stage.
Flutting, or 'Jimps' began to appear on the top and bottom of the tang to aid grip
- 40 grooves per inch was the standard. During this period there was also a fashion
for very large, wedge-bladed razors marked 'for barbers' use' or sometimes words
like 'improved silver steel' but this only lasted ten years or so.
During this period English makers began adding a monarch's sign to their razors -
this comprised a crown bracketed by the initials of the monarch, e.g 'G (crown) R'
for 'George Rex'. This at least helps to date these razors to a reign, as follows
-
George IV - 1820-1830, William IV - 1830 - 1837, Victoria - 1837 - 1901 (not such
a help to precise year dating as the previous two due to her long reign!)
1830 - 1840
This period saw further development of the blade and the tang (the part of the metal
that you hold!) became more defined from the blade. Etched blades were available
and 'notched' blades were available. Silver steel more or less replaced cast steel
during this period. Blade slogans such as 'Old English' and 'The Celebrated Razor'
were common. Horn handles were also impressed with slogans and the scales (handles)
became more bow-shaped.
1840 - 1850
Photo-etching of wedge blades became quite popular with some beautiful designs being
produced: this continued well into the 1860's. 'Penning' - the method of patterning
scales with silver pins - also became popular. Some used hundreds of pins and the
patterns were very intricate. Common handle materials were bone and horn.
