George III pocket fruit knife c.1790

Description

One of the earliest forms of carved decoration on the mother-of-pearl scales of pocket fruit knives was a simple sunburst. This 18th-century pocket fruit knife is an example of early sunburst carving. The knife measures 3 1/4 inches closed and is made with brass liners, rounded mother-of-pearl scales, ribbed silver bolsters and a ribbed and rayed silver end cap, tooled silver back bar sleeve and micro-engraved rosettes. The blade has two hallmarks, the George III duty mark and the lion passant. There is a natural flake crack on the face scale, but this 235 year old knife is otherwise in excellent condition — it even retains a ‘snap’ !