<code> how to date an antique fruit knife
How to Date an Antique Pocket Fruit Knife
Silver Blade Hallmarks
Most pocket fruit knives have several hallmarks one of which is a date letter. This is the easiest and surest way of dating a pocket fruit knife.
Each of the Assay Offices (London, Birmingham, Sheffield, Chester) used a letter in a specific font and shape to mark the year.
To add confusion each Assay Office used its own date letter cycle, starting with different years.
The cycles normally sequenced through the alphabet, but not always in an A to Z direction, and not in necessarily in simple sequence! Some letters were occasionally omitted.
Between 1780 and 1853 some of the marks used by the Sheffield Assay Office combined the Date Letter Mark with the Assay Office Mark.
Typically this took the form of a date letter with a small crown above it. This in turn led to anomalies as, sometimes, the crown would appear upside down.
To accurately date a pocket fruit knife it is best to use one of the published reference guides or online databases to match the exact style, shape and letter to a year and assay office.
Popular sources are Jackson’s Hallmarks or The Goldsmiths’ Company online resource.
Knives without date letters
Most 18th-century pocket fruit knives did not have a date letter, at least not visibly.
The blades were usually stamped with the King’s Head Duty Mark and the Lion Passant Purity Mark.
Often the maker’s mark was stamped on a part of the blade (the tang) that was always hidden once the knife had been assembled.
Occasionally a date letter would also be stamped on the tang.
So, how to date a pocket fruit knife without a date letter?
Milled Borders
Many early knives had milled borders to the blade. An approximate date can be assumed from the different styles and patterns that evolved over the years.
Typical early milling pattern on late 18th century blade
Patterns on milled borders changed regularly. During the late 18th century the milling was usually a combination of wavy lines interspersed with engraved dots and dashes.
After the turn of the century and all the way to the reign of Queen Victoria the milling tended to be in straight lines running parallel to the edge of the blade.
Fashions for different border styles changed regularly and knowing the dates when the different styles were popular helps to date a knife.
Spine Decorations
Pocket fruit knives and forks had steel springs that could rust over time and spoil the appearance.
To hide the spring, cutlers would cover it with a thin sleeve of silver (gold for gold-bladed knives) which was soldered to the steel.
Initially these sleeves were plain, but the preferred styles by the 1790s were for gadrooned or tooled sleeves.
Tooled silver sleeve on pocket fruit knife spine
After the turn of the 19th century stepped patterns were the vogue with cross-hatching and diagonal lines becoming popular during Queen Victoria’s reign.
Once again fashions changed regularly and knowing the dates when the different styles of sleeve decorations were popular helps to date a knife.
Bolsters
Bolsters on pocket fruit knives served both functional and decorative purposes, combining craftsmanship and aesthetics.
By reinforcing the hinge end of the haft, bolsters helped to prevent damage to the fragile mother-of-pearl scales.
They also offered a canvas for embellishment which took a variety of forms and styles that can help approximately date a pocket fruit knife.
Bolsters appeared on pocket fruit knives around 1770 and the patterns, shapes, sizes and styles changed dramatically over the decades from long to short, from ribbed, mitred, crowned and rayed to pinched, cross-hatched, banded, gadrooned or embellished with acanthus leaves.
Photographic guides
There are photographic guides to the different styles of milled borders, spine sleeves and bolsters in An Encyclopedia of Pocket Fruit Knife Makers 1770 – 1930.
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Quick Guide to Dating a Fruit Knife
- Check the silver hallmarks on the blade
- Identify the maker’s mark
- Examine the handle material
- Compare the construction with known Georgian and Victorian examples