The "cross - L" English scalper: mystery solved?
Nov 30, 2022 9:39:45 GMT -7
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Black Hand, Keith, and 3 more like this
Post by paranger on Nov 30, 2022 9:39:45 GMT -7
I was recently doing some digging regarding Hallamshire (Sheffield) cutler's marks on 18th c. English trade knives. Many of you may have seen the prolific maltese cross over L mark which has been much recreated and is usually associated with the later full width tang English knives of the 1780-1830 time frame. These later versions often featured wider blades and straighter spines than their mid-century half-width tang antecedents, as well.
The cross L mark is so prolific, it has led many to posit (incorrectly) that it was associated with the Hudson Bay Company and / or Northwest Fur companies themselves, often being found at or near their former trading post sites. More likely, as one Sheffield archivist hypothesized, it is simply the mark of the cutler who won the contracts for HBC, etc. Apparently it was common even for larger shops to sub-contract to several smaller cutlers to fill large orders. Those sub-contractors possessed the cutler mark stamps for the prime contractor, and so marked them to fill the order. This would also explain the small differences which occur in the marks themselves in terms of sizes, shapes, and relative positions.
Then I stumbled across this pair from the Great Lakes region on the "Scavengology " website:
These blades both demonstrate the half-width tang construction associated with the mid-18th c. based upon the off-center pin holes. Hmmm....
Then I found this on a Sheffield cutlery site:
JOSEPH ANTT & SON
The history of this cutlery family dates from at least the early eighteenth century. According to the records of the Company of Cutlers, Joseph Antt (or Ant) was apprenticed to his father (also named Joseph) and was granted his Freedom in 1750. His mark as a knife maker was +L. This mark was found on a knife blade – made from cementation steel – that was excavated from a recent archaeological dig of the Riverside Exchange, close to the River Don. A directory in 1787 listed Joseph Antt & Son as merchants in Lambert Street/Croft.
The son was Joseph Parlibien Antt (baptised 3 March 1758), who was apprenticed to his father, and granted his Freedom in 1800. Joseph Antt, Broad Lane, died in that year on 13 February and was buried in St Peter’s churchyard. His age was not recorded. Joseph P. Antt, ‘gentleman’ was buried in the same graveyard on 12 March 1819. He was aged 61. The +L mark may have been acquired by Benjamin Fenton.
In short, it appears that the "cross over L" mark was registered to Joseph Antt at least as early as 1750, and his descendents may have retained it as late as 1819 (well into the full width tang period) when it was apparently transferred to Fenton.
Here is my recreation of both blades with diamond profile logwood handles:
The cross L mark is so prolific, it has led many to posit (incorrectly) that it was associated with the Hudson Bay Company and / or Northwest Fur companies themselves, often being found at or near their former trading post sites. More likely, as one Sheffield archivist hypothesized, it is simply the mark of the cutler who won the contracts for HBC, etc. Apparently it was common even for larger shops to sub-contract to several smaller cutlers to fill large orders. Those sub-contractors possessed the cutler mark stamps for the prime contractor, and so marked them to fill the order. This would also explain the small differences which occur in the marks themselves in terms of sizes, shapes, and relative positions.
Then I stumbled across this pair from the Great Lakes region on the "Scavengology " website:
These blades both demonstrate the half-width tang construction associated with the mid-18th c. based upon the off-center pin holes. Hmmm....
Then I found this on a Sheffield cutlery site:
JOSEPH ANTT & SON
The history of this cutlery family dates from at least the early eighteenth century. According to the records of the Company of Cutlers, Joseph Antt (or Ant) was apprenticed to his father (also named Joseph) and was granted his Freedom in 1750. His mark as a knife maker was +L. This mark was found on a knife blade – made from cementation steel – that was excavated from a recent archaeological dig of the Riverside Exchange, close to the River Don. A directory in 1787 listed Joseph Antt & Son as merchants in Lambert Street/Croft.
The son was Joseph Parlibien Antt (baptised 3 March 1758), who was apprenticed to his father, and granted his Freedom in 1800. Joseph Antt, Broad Lane, died in that year on 13 February and was buried in St Peter’s churchyard. His age was not recorded. Joseph P. Antt, ‘gentleman’ was buried in the same graveyard on 12 March 1819. He was aged 61. The +L mark may have been acquired by Benjamin Fenton.
In short, it appears that the "cross over L" mark was registered to Joseph Antt at least as early as 1750, and his descendents may have retained it as late as 1819 (well into the full width tang period) when it was apparently transferred to Fenton.
Here is my recreation of both blades with diamond profile logwood handles:
