Antique penknives - collectables at the cutting edge

by Christopher Proudlove©
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As penknives go, it was an ingenious little tool. Instead of the blade simply hinging open from one end of the knife, its action was controlled by a tiny, elongated button.

When depressed, the button allowed the blade to slide forward and then swing open and lock safely in place.

It was also phenomenally sharp, no doubt because it was made from incredibly tough turbine-blade carbon steel. It was clearly its owner's favourite.

We were attempting to fly a kite on the beach near our new home (without much success) and needed to make running repairs.

It was one of those moments when I wished I carried a pocket knife, but Mr JD from Ellesmere Port was quick to the rescue. He was out walking his dog and the chance conversation that ensued revealed him to be an inveterate collector of the pocket knives.

He confessed he owned "about two dozen" vintage, veteran and modern pocket knives, although with his wife present, I suspect that figure might have been conservative.

His enthusiasm was infective. This was a man who appreciated quality engineering, quirky design and the kind of ingenuity that is possible only by producing objects by hand.

His knife was no way mass-produced. The joy of it was its ease of use. Aside from being entirely safe, since it could be opened only by depressing the button, it can also be opened with just one hand -- an attribute that is highly regarded among aficionados.

In its own quiet way, it was also very simple but very beautiful.

A reader of this column, he said I ought to write about collecting penknives and he was right -- it's a fascinating subject - although I do so trusting that safety and proper use goes without saying.

The folding knife has been around since Roman times. Excavations have uncovered charming examples with elaborately carved handles but which lack the spring to keep the blade in place.

The pocket knife, with the blade folding into the handle, was invented in the 16th century and was originally used for putting the points on the business end of quill pens.

Sheffield has been the home of cutlery for almost a thousand years. Edward III (1312-1377) listed a Sheffield knife in his will when entombed in the Tower of London and in the 1380s, Chaucer wrote about a Sheffield knife in the Reeves Tale.

By the 1580s, Sheffield penknives were being recommended as the first choice for schoolmasters in 'The Writing Schoolmaster'

A breakthrough came in 1740 when a new technique was developed to produce high quality steel.

Sheffield clockmaker Benjamin Huntsman wanted better clock springs and after years of experimenting in secret, he perfected a process to produce crucible steel.

The invention turned the city into a world leader in the production of high quality cutlery.

Huntsman's crucible steel was also ideal for both the blades and the springs of pocket knives and other highly specialised instruments such as surgical knives and cutthroat razors.

Very quickly an industry within an industry began to boom and Sheffield pocket knives -- as well as much larger sheathed hunting knives (the subject of a column to itself) -- were being exported across the globe.

From perfecting the simple folding knife with a spring and one blade, cutlers realised that more springs could be added, together with more blades and various tools fitted at each end of the springs.

The ingenuity of skilled cutlers meant there was tremendous scope for variation and as a demonstration of the cutlers´ skills, penknives grew ever more complex, including such things as button hooks, leather punches, nail files, scissors, magnifying glasses, toothpicks, cigar cutters and so on.

Delicate penknives, meanwhile, were also produced in a vast range of styles and varieties catering for almost every user and occasion.

Some of the most dainty were intended for use in a lady's boudoir, or her portmanteau, while others, often smaller still, and often in silver, had a hook so they could be hung from a chatelaine -- the collection of everyday necessities a woman wore hanging from a belt.

Their purpose was manifold but most often the blade would be needed, for example, to open a new bottle of perfume, while a tiny corkscrew was there to pull the corks from medicine or eau de toilette.

There were pocket knives for anglers, sportsman, gardeners, smokers, Boy Scouts, motorists, handymen and even one specifically for the champagne drinker. In the 1920s, this latter nickel silver device contained two blades, a champagne hook, buttonhook and corkscrew and retailed at eight shillings and sixpence (42½ pence).

Social standing of their owners

Another popular collecting area is fruit knives. French cutlers were first to produce folding knives with silver blades which, unlike their steel counterparts, were not stained by fruit acid.

Since fruit was a luxury in the 19th century, so the knives used to cut it reflected the social standing of their owners.

In their simplest form, most had a single hallmarked folding blade and a handle made from mother of pearl, usually engraved with motifs reflecting the purpose of the knife.

At the other end of the price spectrum, the very finest examples had either silver or gold blades decorated with bright-cut engraving, often with trailing vines.

Beautifully executed handles were decorated with inlays of gold and semi-precious stones and many can be found engraved with their owner's initials.

Prices start from a few pounds for a simple example to several hundred for the best.

Fruit knives with little added extras are particularly sought after. Look for those in their original cases with long, thin pointed blades intended to remove pips from fruit, while examples with a Chester hallmark are more valuable because of their relative rarity (Chester's assay office closed in 1962).

Some of the most charming and desirable penknives are those primitive examples which look to be home-made. Chances are they were not. Rather they are the products of small private firms or blacksmiths.

Among the most amusing are novelties such as one shaped as a woman's leg, while a miniature folding sewing knife has the handle carved in the shape of a geisha.

Others are big and workmanlike and have handles made from various woods, horn or bone, sometimes carved to resemble staghorn. They are the kind of penknives to be found lying in the bottom of tool boxes in auctions or at car boot sales.

The 20th century saw an increase in the use of penknives for commemorative occasions, particularly coronations, and as souvenirs from seaside resorts. Most use "new" plastics such as ivorine which can imitate ivory or dark wood and fool the uninitiated.

In the last 20 years or so there has been a huge upsurge in interest among collectors and many of the companies founded in Sheffield to produce traditional penknives continue to thrive today making limited edition examples intended solely for the collectors' market.

Such examples in their plush cases are intended as cabinet pieces, not as working tools.

The collector of old penknives should buy only those examples whose folding mechanisms are still in good crisp working order and whose blades are complete and free of damage.

A blade that does not reach the end of its slot means it has been broken and ground back to its original shape sometime in the past.

The more decorative knives with a greater number of blades and tools are more valuable than plain, simple examples, but prices remain affordable.

Rusty blades can be cleaned with some fine wire wool and penetrating oil and then polished with soft paper.

The mechanism should be kept free with a careful application of refined oil (not WD 40), while handles in natural material should be treated with a little almond oil.

With a little care, grandfather's prized penknife -- the one you saw him use to cut his plug tobacco -- will give you a lifetime of service before you hand it on to your grandchild.

Pictures show, top:
Plenty of choice: A page from the 1926-27 Army and Navy Co-operative Society catalogue showing just a fraction of their range of pocket knives - these specifically for "Yachting and Boys". The nickel-silver champagne knife is bottom right.

Below, left to right:
This ivory novelty penknife is modelled as a classical lady wearing a cloak and holding a bird, perhaps indicating that it was intended as a quill pen cutter. It's worth £80-120

Fruity fun: Left a late 19th century silver and mother of pearl fruit knife with its original soft suede case and pipping blade. It's worth £80-120. Right a plainer version, the handle engraved with male and female portraits. However, the crack just above them reduces its value to £30-40

An ivory novelty penknife in the form of a shapely female leg. It was made in about 1870 and is worth £60-100