UNIQUE MINT SEKB PUBLISHED EXHIBITION SERPENTINE CARVED PEARL WHITTLER 1859-1862

Description: UNIQUE MINT PUBLISHED EXHIBITION SERPENTINE CARVED PEARL WHITTLER C.1859-1862 UNIQUE MINT SHEFFIELD EXHIBITION KNIFE BOOK PUBLISHED EXHIBITION SERPENTINE CARVED PEARL LARGE SIZE TRUE WHITTLER CIRCA 1859-1862 ONE-OF-A-KIND CONNOISSEUR INVESTMENT QUALITY MINT PUBLISHED MASTERPIECE EXHIBITION POCKET KNIFE OVERSIZE SERPENTINE TRUE WHITTLER PATTERN WHARNCLIFFE MASTER BLADE ~ CARVED MOTHER OF PEARL SILVER LINERS & PINS ~ FILE WORKED INSIDE BACK SPRINGS BY SCARCE LONDON MAKER MECHI & BAZIN / CIRCA 1859 - 1862WITH PROVENANCE John Joseph Mechi was an Italian who was first listed as an early London Cuter in 1827 at 130 Leadenhall Street, London. In 1830, he moved to number 4 Leadenhall Street, published his first cutlery catalog in 1830 that included razors, and claimed to be the Invention of the Magic Strop and paste. By 1839, Mechi had a retail cutlery store at this location where he also sold Bowie knives with his Mechi / Leadenhall mark that may have been made in Sheffield for retail at his London store. Mechi was a member of the London Society of Arts, exhibited at the London 1851 Great Exhibition, was a juror at the 1851 Exhibition, and was also an Alderman of the City of London. In 1855, he purchased the cutlery firm of Vinings on 112 Regent Street. In 1859, the firm was changed to Mechi and Bazin when Bazin joined the firm as a partner. Mechi & Bazin exhibited at the 1862 London International Exhibition where this Serpentine Wharncliffe true Whittler Pattern Exhibition knife was unquestionably displayed. Around 1865, the Leadenhall premises were closed, and the entire business was moved to 112 Regent Street. Bazin died in 1865 and the firm retained the same name until 1870, when it was renamed Mechi. With Mechi’s death in 1870, the firm was placed into liquidation. This is a an extremely rare and desirable, very high quality, mint condition, unsharpened, uncarried, London made rare 3 bladed Serpentine Wharncliffe True Whittler pattern Exhibition pocketknife, circa 1859 - 1862, by the scarce London maker Mechi & Bazin that existed for only 6 years. Note: London Cutlery firms are many times rarer than Sheffield Cutlery firms. This Exhibition Serpentine True Whittler (with all 3 blades being knife blades) pattern with a Wharncliffe Master blade with fluted Exhibition Mother of Peal before the oceans were polluted, is considered to be one of the most visually appealing of all Antique Pocket knives; and this piece is one of the best known. This is a large, oversize Exhibition piece meant only for display, and this elegant pocketknife is completely handmade, i.e., hand forged, hand ground, hand tempered, hand carved pearl, hand filed, hand polished and hand fitted with only the simplest of hand tools. This gem of a pocketknife was made by the firms best Master Craftsmen that produced Exhibition cutlery. This Exhibition pocketknife is of highest quality; an example of the Best Quality that London Master Cutlers could produce at this time. The vast majority of cutlery sold in America during its infancy were Sheffield or London made. The superb quality of this period of cutlery has never been duplicated and had an especially meaningful interest to gentlemen of means then, and Advanced knife collectors today. This is an extremely high-quality pocketknife was made in London; along with Sheffield, were the knife capitols of the world at the time, and for hundreds of years previously. Exhibition knives were created to be displayed in a showroom or at Exhibitions. They were created by the Master Cutlers of the firm, using the best forger, the best grinder, the best polisher, and the best fitter; all to demonstrate the quality of Artisanship and Craftsmanship of the best Master Cutlers of the firm. Orginal Exhibition knives were typically transferred to other firms with the acquisition, merger or buy outs of the hundreds of English Cutlery firms active during the 1800's. Some pieces were gifted to business associates, some given as gifts or presentation pieces, and some found their way into the private sector and were sold off; with some being used and carried by the new owner. It was very fashionable for Gentlemen to carry a fancy pocketknife as a standard accouterment. Although a copy of this knife could theoretically could have been custom made to order, no other example is known; and only an Aristocrat, Royalty, or extremely wealthy Gentleman of means would have been able to commission a custom made to order pocketknife of this quality. Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between a knife made for Exhibition, and an Exhibition Quality knife. Some early Exhibition knives were also made by Master Cutlers and purposefully not marked so the piece would be judged on its merits alone when submitted to a Cutlery competition. This piece has all the hallmarks of a piece made for Exhibition only, i.e., Maker marked on both sides of all 3 blades so the Maker would show whichever side is displayed, oversized piece typical of Exhibition pieces, Exhibition quality carved pearl, no bolsters, silver liners & pins, inside back springs file worked, exquisite Artisanship, Craftsmanship, and provenance; and falls into the Exhibition knife category. This extremely high quality, eye appealing Wharncliffe Serpentine bolsterless pattern Exhibition knife was the way Master Cutlers of the firm showed off to showcase their exquisite Artisanship and Craftsmanship. Their values range from High to Very High depending on their eye appeal, pattern, mint unused, uncarried condition, extreme age, rarity and provenance. Both Mechi, and later Mechi & Bazin are known to have exhibited at both the London 1851 and 1862 International Expositions. It is obvious this One-of-a-kind Exhibition showpiece would have been made by the Master pocketknife cutler Mechi at the height of his cutlery career for the London International Exposition between 1859 when Bazin joined the firm and the 1862 London Expo. The 1862 exhibition was a showcase of the advances made in the industrial revolution, especially in the decade since the first Great Exhibition of 1851; and featured over 28,000 exhibitors from 36 countries. Mechi is also known to have made Exhibition pocketknives for the 1851 London Exhibition. The London knife book displays such a knife; a 28 blade Exhibition Masterpiece pocketknife marked MECHI, LONDON (4 Leadenhall address used from 1830 to before his merger with Bazin in 1859). I previously owned this knife that was made for the London Exhibition in 1851 that demonstrates the Master cutler pocketknife skills of Mechi. After 150+ years, the scales are MINT, with no cracks or chips; suggesting this knife was put up properly and rarely handled. The scales are a select Exhibition quality Mother of Pearl that shows multicolored iridescence with several color variations; characteristics only found on Pearl obtained before the oceans became polluted. The carving to the 1/8" thick Pearl scales is hand sculptured by a pearl carving specialist with a series of deep curved engraving that complement the desirous Serpentine pattern. There are 3 edge cut outs to the edge of the pearl to facilitate easy access to the nail nicks. As is common on Exhibition pieces there is no escutcheon plate as the piece was never intended to be sold or inscribed with an owner's name. Note this knife has no bolsters, a characteristic found on Exhibition knives as it is not practical to have blade pins secured by only the thin inside silver liners and the outside delicate pearl. This feature was Master Cutlers and a Master fitter showing off their decades of knife making skills. Also note the knife is held together with only 3 pins. The liners (and pins) are silver. Silver liners are extremely rare, and this is the only Exhibition pocketknife I have seen with this feature. Obviously, silver is too soft to be used for blade pins but is used to avoid cracking the scales and is used on Exhibition knives intended only for display that will be rarely opened and closed; and never used or carried. The inside silver liners show the distinct soft dull color of silver, along with some fine rub marks adjacent to the Master blade pin on one side of the soft silver liners where the Master blade has been opened a few times. These telltale marks would not be present if the liners where hard German silver. Both of the inside back springs have hand file work. This piece is oversize for a typical Gentleman's pocketknife at 4 1/8" long overall closed x 8 1/2" open, tip to tip, tapers from 11/16" wide to 3/8" wide, is 7/16" thick, and weighs 2.1 ounces or 60 grams. These 3 bladed knives with a Master blade at one end, and two knife blades on the opposite end designates a True Whittler Pattern, i.e., all 3 blades are knife blades vs. a 1/2 Whittler that would have a nail blade, button loop, scissors, et al, in lieu of a knife blade. All blades retain their original shape with all the original mirror crocus of Iron polish, as is typical on almost all Antique Sheffield and London knives. This time-consuming final polish was painstakingly done on a wooden wheel with a leather outside edge that coated with wax and fine black crocus of Iron powder that would impart the high luster final polish. The Master Wharncliffe blade is hot stamped on one side "MECHI & BAZIN" in 2 lines. The obverse has both the “112 REGENT ST” mark (beginning in 1855 with the purchase of Vinings) above the earlier "&4 LEADEN", "HALL ST" address (used since 1830) in 3 lines. Mechi was using the 4 Leadenhall address since 1830 and added the 112 Regent Street address with the purchase of the Vinings cutlery firm in 1855. Thus, when Bazin joined Mechi in 1859, the firm’s marking had both the new 112 Regent markings and the old 4 Leadenhall mark. When Bazin died in 1865 and the whole business was transferred to the previous Vinings works at 112 Regent Street. The name Mechi & Bazin continued to be used from 1865 until 1870 when the company name was reverted back to the name Mechi until the death of Mechi in 1870 when the firm ceased to exist and was placed into liquidation. The elongated pen and quill blades are double marked, en suite. Note that the Master blade is marked Mechin & Bazin, and the same side smaller blades are marked with both street addresses. If you turn the knife over, the smaller blades both are marked Mechin & Bazin, and the Master blade has the two-street address. This ensures that regardless of which side of this Exhibition knife is displayed, both the Maker and addresses are shown. The elongated quill blade is 1 7/8" long with a thin swedge ground from the ricasso along the top right edge only. This blade was designed to be used to sharpen Goose quills used by gentlemen who were literate and needed to write and sign documents. The small telescoping pocket dip pens were introduced decades earlier in the 1830’s; however, a gentleman of means still preferred the option of using this blade so they could pull a fancy accoutrement from their pocket, and in Victorian flair, sign a document using this necessary tool. The elongated pen blade is 1 13/16" long with the same thin swedge ground from the ricasso along the top right edge to the point on the obverse side. Pen blades were typically used for opening envelopes, cutting string, et al. All knives that are a century and a half old will have some naturally occurring age spots, spidering or handling marks. There are a couple of tiny naturally occurring spidering marks on both sides the pen blade that have had the dark coloration wiped away, leaving the remaining tiny shiny spidering marks that blend well into the original crocus of iron polish but are visible when the blade is rotated in the light. These desirable patches of light spidering authenticate the blade's genuine age as it takes 100+ years to get naturally occurring spidering on a blade. Both the pen and quill blades have half stops, i.e., the blade ricasso is ground to allow the blade to stop perpendicular to the hilt; a feature found on high quality pocketknives. The 2 small blades make a click sound in the half open/closed position and a firm but not hard snap for all blades when closing, such as found on some well fitted Exhibition blades. The Wharncliffe Master blade is made from heavy 1/8" stock, is 2 1/2" long with a grind to the top of the blade on both sides from the ricasso to the tip that tapers to a paper-thin sharpened edge. There are some scattered exceptionally light naturally occurring age spots on one side of the blade that can be seen when reflecting light off the mirror polish. There is an extremely tiny tweak to the very tip of the blade that is hard notice unless the blade is rotated in the light with a minuscule loss to the very end tip of the blade that can be seen with magnification. The Master blade does not come close to bottoming out inside the liner, and all 3 blades align perfectly inside the liners, so there is no obvious reason for this handling mark to occur. Note in the August 2019 issue of Knife Magazine pg. 44 article on Exhibition knives, two Exhibition knives are featured; one with spots on the Master blade, and another with two blades that have chips to the tips. In my opinion, the chips to these exhibition blades are because the Master grinder tapered the blades to be paper thin at the tip, making them extremely delicate. Although this detailed description is included for clarity, any tiny imperfection is insignificant to the overall presentation of this one of-a-kind magnificent, published Masterpiece Cutlery Exhibition knife that remains in immaculate mint condition; and demonstrates that there are very few, if any, perfect knives that are 150+ years old. All the original crocus of Iron high polish remains, and all the blades are unsharpened and mint condition. Blades on any mint or Exhibition knife should be opened gently and closed slowly and avoid hard snapping the blades and unnecessarily risk the edge bottoming out and chipping; or the blades hitting one another or the liners when closing and damaging or marking the blades. 19th Century original Exhibition Pocket knives in Mint condition are impossible to find. If this knife were dropped once in the last 160+ years, the Pearl would have cracked or shattered, and the knife ruined. This one has Carved (fluted) Exhibition Pearl, is bolster less, both sides Maker marked, unsharpened, with ALL the whistles and bells in one of the most striking and desirable patterns extant; a Large Serpentine Wharncliffe True Whittler Exhibition knife, published, with provenance. This one-of-a-kind Exhibition knife would be the centerpiece of any knife collection. Overall, this handsome, eye appealing, rare, fancy, 3 bladed Gentleman's pocketknife is in mint condition; especially considering its extreme 160 years age; and is as good as it gets. This is an eye popping, carved pearl , connoisseur quality, investment grade knife; perfect for any knife, London, Antique, Whittler, Wharncliffe, pocketknife or smalls collector. Ask a current knife maker artist` if he could recreate a Masterpiece like this using only simple hand tools, what they would charge? PROVENANCE From the Iconic collection of Hubert Lawell, Cutlery Hall of Fame Member and acquired by a private collector from the late great Iconic Dealer Jim Taylor, who was originally from Sheffield in 2008, and currently in a private collection. This Exhibition Serpentine Wharncliffe Whittler was displayed and offered for the first time at the June 1998 Blade Show in Atlanta by Old World Trading, prior to this Iconic collection being published in the 1999 Sheffield Exhibition Knife Book. This exact knife is showcased on pages 226 & 227 of the 1999 Sheffield Exhibition Knife book, and also is listed in the rare pricing inventory pamphlet by Old World Trading, Ltd., and shown as, "W 11, Mechi & Bazin - 4 1/8" Wharncliffe Whittler-Fluted, $6,000 (in 1998 $) inventory #58. If you simply add the cost of money (inflation), $6.000 = $$11,111 in 2023 $.The S.E.K.B is a display of the finest knives the cutlery world has to offer the World. Exhibition knives were created by Master Cutlers to be displayed, then retired to the factory collections. These knives were made for quality, beauty, display, culture, and posterity; and not intended for sale or use. Many were show pieces for Exhibitions to compete in Cutlery competitions for gold and silver medals. The number of surviving examples of mint, unsharpened, uncarried, connoisseur investment quality 1800’s antique knives is extremely limited, rarely offered, and an investment for a discerning collector. PAYMENT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PAYPAL & ELECTRONIC FUNDS TRANSFER, e-CHECKS & ALL MAJOR CREDIT & DEBIT CARDS, APPLE PAY, GOOGLE PAY AND ALL OTHER PAYMENT METHODS APROVED BUY EBAY. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHIPPING ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FREE SHIPPING & HANDLING FOR DOMESTIC BUYERS & TO THE EBAY U.S.A. INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING CENTER. FOR USA PURCHASES, SHIPPING, HANDLING & DELIVERY IS FREE VIA U.S.P.S. FIRST CLASS MAIL (UP TO 16 OZ.) OR U.S.P.S. 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Price: 5845.5 USD

Location: Fairfield, California

End Time: 2024-12-15T03:14:29.000Z

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