Flea market ID
- Thread starter MichaelS
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You have more faith in me than I have, Mikael! I have seen the mark before, but Paragon is just a brand and I suspect many things had it emblazoned on them as it means "excellence" and so on. Interestingly, the old greek word for it meand "sharpen" and part of the root of that word is "whetstone" which is particularly apt!
The only company I can think of that used the name Paragon was henry Sears and Son, an american importer in the late 1860s - 1870s (company name was bought in 1878 and continued trading until1959) - they made a huge variety of knives and razors. However, they were importers, so the razors they sold could well have come from Sheffield and Solingen.
I agree with Mikael about the shape - typical old Sheffield - and if it was a Sears & Son they invariably stamped the name and the year (1865 - the company was originally Henry Sears & Co at that date, Chicago, but was bought and the name changed) somewhere on the tang, so I suspect it is a Sheffield blade. The scales look like ivory to me - the veining is unlike bone and bone has lots of little dark specks in it, mostly at top and bottom of the scales (the remains of minute canals that nerves and so on once passed through - the dark residue is the collapse and decay of organic matter and dirt that has entered the pores).
Regards,
Neil
The only company I can think of that used the name Paragon was henry Sears and Son, an american importer in the late 1860s - 1870s (company name was bought in 1878 and continued trading until1959) - they made a huge variety of knives and razors. However, they were importers, so the razors they sold could well have come from Sheffield and Solingen.
I agree with Mikael about the shape - typical old Sheffield - and if it was a Sears & Son they invariably stamped the name and the year (1865 - the company was originally Henry Sears & Co at that date, Chicago, but was bought and the name changed) somewhere on the tang, so I suspect it is a Sheffield blade. The scales look like ivory to me - the veining is unlike bone and bone has lots of little dark specks in it, mostly at top and bottom of the scales (the remains of minute canals that nerves and so on once passed through - the dark residue is the collapse and decay of organic matter and dirt that has entered the pores).
Regards,
Neil
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I can recomend Neil himself, he restored a lovely ivory scaled Heljestrand for me.MichaelS said:
See here: <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://www.theshavingroom.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6893" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=22&t=6893</a><!-- l -->
If the scales are good, really get someone with knowledge to restore, ivory is not something easily replaced if broken.
Max
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- West Yorkshire
Paragon is ringing faint bells here, probably in relation to a tool rather than cutlery maker. Handsaws are certainly still produced under that brand, and given the history of recycling trademarks in the industry it may well be an old name. It wouldn't be all that surprising if an old razor brand were to resurface in this way. Looks like Sheffield to me too, a fairly elderly one.