George III pocket fruit knife, 1814

Description

Made in Sheffield in 1814, this handsome pocket fruit knife measures 3 inches in the closed position. Assayed at the Sheffield Assay Office with three hallmarks: the Sheffield crown with the date letter ‘W’, lion passant, and George III duty mark. The knife is made with brass liners, iridescent rounded mother-of-pearl scales, silvered bolsters, a micro-engraved vacant cartouche, a gadrooned silver back bar sleeve and a pounced border on both sides of the blade. The knife has a hairline crack to the mother-of-pearl scale on the reverse side and a tiny nibble to the pearl, also on the reverse side. Otherwise this pocket fruit knife is in excellent condition and is one of the illustrations in the recently published Encyclopedia of English Pocket Fruit Knife Makers 1770-1930.