J. ROWE SHEFFIELD info needed...

[John Carter]

I picked up this really interesting little center swell pen in the seller pages. Any info on the J. ROWE SHEFFIELD knife co., is greatly appreciated. Is this actual tortoise shell for instance?

[americanedgetech]

I found a mention of J. Rowe of New York being an importer of Sheffield cutlery so I googled J. Rowe NY cutler, and found this... John Rowe & Co (c1860), 269 Pearl St, New York, NY

There are a few links leading to very little useful info except for the dates he was active.
He is also somewhere in this old New York Daily Tribune dated may 27 1850 but I gave up after 3 pages...
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ ... d-1/seq-3/

Hope it helps.
My eyes hurt.

Edit: The handles appear to be celluloid. It LOOKS like the pattern is actually behind a clear layer.
You can verify this easily by using a sewing needle, and push it into a discrete spot. Real shell will feel like stone or shell, and Cell. will allow the needle to penetrate like plastic.
OR you can heat the handles by rubbing briskly, and it will release a camphor smell like Vicks Vopo rub.

I also found where that knife had sold recently...

[John Carter]

I found a mention of J. Rowe of New York being an importer of Sheffield cutlery so I googled J. Rowe NY cutler, and found this... John Rowe & Co (c1860), 269 Pearl St, New York, NY

There are a few links leading to very little useful info except for the dates he was active.
He is also somewhere in this old New York Daily Tribune dated may 27 1850 but I gave up after 3 pages...
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/ ... d-1/seq-3/

Hope it helps.
My eyes hurt.

Edit: The handles appear to be celluloid. It LOOKS like the pattern is actually behind a clear layer.
You can verify this easily by using a sewing needle, and push it into a discrete spot. Real shell will feel like stone or shell, and Cell. will allow the needle to penetrate like plastic.
OR you can heat the handles by rubbing briskly, and it will release a camphor smell like Vicks Vopo rub.

I also found where that knife had sold recently...

Thanks for the info. Very appreciated. I wonder if it possibly dates that far back. If celluloid, then naturally no. I have to test.

[americanedgetech]

WIKI:
"Generally considered the first thermoplastic, it was first created as Parkesine in 1856 and as Xylonite in 1869, before being registered as Celluloid in 1870. Celluloid is easily molded and shaped, and it was first widely used as an ivory replacement.
Celluloid - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celluloid"

I did sooo much reading that I forget the dates this J. Rowe/John Rowe was active but I believe it was 1910-1915 as a cut off date for him so Cell was certainly within the realm of possibility especially since he was importing from established knife makers.

I also saw a bunch of mentions of him in straight razor circles but nothing that glinted more information.
It shouldn't bee too difficult to find more ie: google books has a pretty vast data base that doesn't always come up in common searches.
Same for the NY Tribune. If you search their data base you might find old adds for sale items or Obits. or the like.

Edit:
I actually love those kind of knives. The little step kids that are ignored but may have had royal linage.
I'll pay 20 bucks all day for a knife made in the same house that is normally sold for a couple hundred with a different stamp.

[danno50]

John, I am not sure why this knife did not elicit more comments. It is a nice old tuxedo pattern (I believe). For what it is worth, my opinion is that your knife is actually real tortoise shell. If you look closely, with magnification, real tortoise shell will have layers. There is no discrete spot on a pocket knife in which to push a sewing needle to check for celluloid. My nose is not so good, the brisk rubbing with a thumb does not work for me, as I smell nothing. However, a method suggested, in another thread (I believe by Orvet), is to use 1000 to 2000 grit wet dry sandpaper. A few brisk rubs and smell, if celluloid will give a chemical smell. Below are three pictures. The first two are of a surgical instrument which has real tortoise shell handles. The second picture is after a few brisk rubs with 2000 grit wet dry automotive sandpaper. No chemical smell. The third is of a tortoise shell patterned celluloid handle. I pulled this off a knife when the blade started to show signs that the celluloid was outgassing. Also, the celluloid was starting to craze around one of the pins. When I use the sandpaper test on this handle, there is a faint chemical smell. I also confirmed using a hot pin test on the back of this handle after removing it from the knife. A small whiff of the fumes gave me quite a headache.
Tweedale does not list any J. Rowe as a Sheffield cutler. However, Goins does list a John Rowe & Co in New York city, circa 1851 to 1860, as per the information Ken found on google.
You have an interesting, old, obscure old pocket knife.
Regards
Dan

[John Carter]

John, I am not sure why this knife did not elicit more comments. It is a nice old tuxedo pattern (I believe). For what it is worth, my opinion is that your knife is actually real tortoise shell. If you look closely, with magnification, real tortoise shell will have layers. There is no discrete spot on a pocket knife in which to push a sewing needle to check for celluloid. My nose is not so good, the brisk rubbing with a thumb does not work for me, as I smell nothing. However, a method suggested, in another thread (I believe by Orvet), is to use 1000 to 2000 grit wet dry sandpaper. A few brisk rubs and smell, if celluloid will give a chemical smell. Below are three pictures. The first two are of a surgical instrument which has real tortoise shell handles. The second picture is after a few brisk rubs with 2000 grit wet dry automotive sandpaper. No chemical smell. The third is of a tortoise shell patterned celluloid handle. I pulled this off a knife when the blade started to show signs that the celluloid was outgassing. Also, the celluloid was starting to craze around one of the pins. When I use the sandpaper test on this handle, there is a faint chemical smell. I also confirmed using a hot pin test on the back of this handle after removing it from the knife. A small whiff of the fumes gave me quite a headache.
Tweedale does not list any J. Rowe as a Sheffield cutler. However, Goins does list a John Rowe & Co in New York city, circa 1851 to 1860, as per the information Ken found on google.
You have an interesting, old, obscure old pocket knife.
Regards
Dan

Thanks for the info. When I saw the knife and it's tang, I found it very interesting.

I saw the Goins entry for J. Rowe. But there's not much else mentioned besides the years you've mentioned. It'd be nice to think this knife dates to 1850's. I haven't picked up Tweedale yet.

Awesome.