thinreadline

Any opinions on this knife handle as to the material. The silver mounts are Sheffield hallmarked for 1886 .

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colin henshaw

Ivory

thinreadline

Thank you Colin .... may I ask how one tells ?

Sajen

Colin refer to the Schreger lines. But I've seen a similar dagger with an early sort of plastic which imitates this Schreger lines. Can you use the hot needle test at an unvisible place?

Regards,
Detlef

thinreadline

Thanks Detlef , tried that and no its not plastic ... I didnt think they would use silver hallmarked mounts on a plastic grip , but you never know of course .

asomotif

Ivorine, as used on kitchenknifes, can look very much like this.
Sometimes including the lines.
However, I think that ivorine would not crack like this handle

Best regards,
Willem

Ibrahiim al Balooshi

I looked at two replacement substances for Ivory... Ivorine which was invented in 1899 thus too late for this..and Bakelite also a later invention... I have to say I think Ivory in this case... I cannot see the full stamps thus unable to say who the maker may be ...

thinreadline

Salaams Ibrahiim , the maker is Henry Wigful of Sheffield

Helleri

I don't think this is ivory. Some translucence along the edges of cracks, dings, and scratches causes ivory to typically show hotter coloration there (red and orange, not black as is shown here). I think the grain is also too strait (with no intersection) and uninterrupted. Have you done the rub test?

VANDERNOTTE

ivory indee

Sajen

This was what I've meant, I think that the chance is great that we are looking at this material by this dagger. But I could be wrong.
Sure you only can get when you would remove the upper silver cap.

Regards,
Detlef

thinreadline

What is the rub test ?

thinreadline

What is ivory indee please ?

Berkley

The regularly alternating dark and light lines are characteristic of the type of celluloid known as “French ivory”, first made in the 1860s and often found in knife handles.

(Shown is a knife with French ivory scales made by George Wostenholm of Sheffield).
Impossible to say what environmental or traumatic effects caused the longitudinal fracture. With as much certainty as possible from merely photographic evidence, I vote “not ivory”.

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thinreadline

All very interesting but wouldnt celluloid melt when a hot needle is applied ?

colin henshaw

I don't think ivorine would crack like that, but ivory will. At least I've never seen cracks on table knives with such ivorine handles...

Battara

I have to agree with Colin on this. These has been my observations as well.

Berkley

A cursory Google search for “cracked celluloid” seems to indicate that it is a problem, at least among fountain pen collectors. However, thinreadline is certainly correct that a hot pin should have shown a positive reaction - in the case of celluloid, that could well be in the form of bursting into flames.
All of which reinforces the difficulty of identifying ivory from a photo on a computer monitor. Sadly, my own collection has several pieces where my optimism proved to be mere wishful thinking when the item was in hand.

Shakethetrees

Ivory.

I have seen a lot of both, and ivory is the only material that would crack like this.

thinreadline

This is all very interesting and informative , thank you all so much .

Sajen

Think it was meant "indeed".

VANDERNOTTE

that is correct

thinreadline

Ha ha , OK I understand now ... I thought it was some French technical term for an ivory like substance made in India !

Ed

Hi. Ivory vs bone is easy. Bone has tiny holes that you can see under magnification.

The "Hot wire" test is good for distinguishing between plastics and ivory though not all plastics will react clearly.

Barring fakery, I would bet on ivory. Also, Ivory cracks as an almost natural occurrence, plastic does not except under stress.

Bob A

I vaguely recall that one can rub suspect ivory until it is warmed, then smell it; a camphor odor would indicate that it was a man-made imitation. I don't have a reference for this, my failing memory will have to serve.

blue lander

I think ivory's supposed to be cooler to the touch than plastic or bone, too. If you put the piece in a cold basement or cellar for awhile and then pick it up, it should feel cold like a piece of stone because of the higher mineral content.

fernando

Yes, someone taught me that, once.

Ibrahiim al Balooshi

It appears to be French Ivory like your knife scales... thus I agree with you. As already pointed out this is the 1879 factory in Sheffield producing silver and sterling silver and silver plate, Ivory, Mother of Pearl and stag horn handled cutlery etc....see http://www.picturesheffield.com/fro...s=2&action=zoom for a picture of the man himself...for research purposes.

I occasionally discover that sword makers were either cutlers before or after their sword making days were over...such as the great sword makers at Shotley Bridge who became cutlers.

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Hotspur

A hot pin in bone smells like burning hair. A hot pin in ivory smells like burning cotton.

Celluloid and other early plastics go back to the third quarter of the 19th century. Ivorine...hmmm.,,,composites of ground scrap ivory and glue go back as far as well.

The Russian mastadon mined ivory of the earlier periods can fool you in some instances and has a somewhat different look than modern elephant. Especially if the mastadon stock was from the outer layers (imo).

Cheers

GC