Featured Cased Pair of Antique Straight Razors (Ca. 1890)

Aren't these great??

They just arrived in the mail.

According to my research, they're from about 1890. Gonna sharpen them up and take 'em for a shave...



BTW - Opinions sought, please!

Ivory, or Bone?

The seller said bone, but they didn't seem to be very sure about that, and they look much more like ivory to me.

 

Maybe French Ivory? (which is not ivory at all.) They are so shiny!

 

It's definitely not BONE - which is what the seller thought they were.

So either ivory or celluloid.

I"m leaning more towards ivory. Here's a close-up:

 

Looks like celluloid to my eye.

Debora

 

Here's the clearest shots I could get:

 

I've examined the razors MUCH more closely and I have made my conclusion.

One razor is ivory, one is not.

On really close inspection, it's obvious that one razor has had its scales replaced. The wedge at the end is a different colour from the other one. It's black plastic, whereas the original wedge is metal.

Ergo - razor with metal wedge is original (ivory) and the razor with black wedge was broken and had scales replaced with celluloid which was shaped and polished to match the original ivory as closely as possible.

As you can see here:



When this repair would've been done, I dunno, but someone clearly loved the set enough to get it done.

Also, the scales on #2 razor (the bottom one) are thicker than the scales of #1 razor. Ivory scales are always really thin (hey, ivory was expensive!), which points to it being celluloid and the other one ivory.

I wish they were a 100% match, but sets like these are so hard to find in good condition that you take what you can get.

Shows the importance of close observation!

 

Explains why I kept waffling in my head between ivory & faux ivory. (Bone was never a contender.)

In this photo, am I seeing that the outer sides of the scales of the razor that seems to be in original condition are somewhat convex, while the other one is perfectly flat?

Also, in this photo, is the ivory the one on top? Notice the difference in the way they have cracked. Ivory tends to crack along the growth lines.



Just a little close observation of my own.

 

#1 is the ivory razor. #2 is the celluloid razor. In the photos, #1 is on top.

I agree, the scales do look different, but only if you actually pay attention to them. At a distance, you would never notice.

That said, the attempt to make the razors match as much as possible, in spite of the broken scales, really is very well done. I didn't notice until I had them right in front of me. The difference is really very subtle.

 

Ivory IMO

 

I sharpened the razors, stropped them out and took 'em for a shave this morning.

WOW.

Such effortless, perfect cutting. So smoooooooth.

I love 'em!

 

Just don't go Sweeney Todd on us.

 

On the plus-side, I promise to give everybody on the forum free pies!!

 

I always thought Priest sounded like the best thing on the menu.