Herbert Robinson, Sheffield

[FRJ]

Here is an old Herbert Robinson Sheffield stamp.
The blade has been abused some.
Just loved the bone and the pins on this thing. 4 3/16"
Thanks for looking.

[LongBlade]

Awesome knife Joe ... beautiful jigging on that bone and a "Real Lambs Foot" - cool and no doubt an old classic knife from Sheffield (Herbert Robinson - ca 1873)!! Interesting as I was just reading the last few days that these Lambs Foot knives were 1880-1890s historically... though I did find a few in Smith's Key (1816) a few blades on knives that to me were indeed very similar to a Lambs Foot ....

[FRJ]

Thank you, Lee. Glad you liked the knife and thanks for the time frame.
I have another "Real Lambs Foot" in my pile. I wonder why they were stamped as such.

[LongBlade]

I have another "Real Lambs Foot" in my pile. I wonder why they were stamped as such.

Excellent question Joe... I am not sure anybody knows the answer but I assume it was marketing of a certain kind and who didn't want a Real Lambs foot ... and truth is nobody really knows who or what cutlery were the first to actually etch "Real Lambs Foot" on the blade.. some guesses were Rodgers or perhaps Wostenholm but nothing is in stone to my understanding... the blade is interesting as there is many that are called lambs foot but many have a slightly different slope to the blade end - though many believe it is the non-parallel spine and cutting edge in a lambs foot that clearly distinguishes it from others... though again I find that to be very maker dependent...

[bestgear]

From http://www.encyclo.co.uk/meaning-of-Lambsfoot%20Blade a lambsfoot blade (called in America a sheepsfoot blade) is a knife blade with a flat cutting edge, and a back that curves to the point, thus resembling the shape of a lamb's hoof. The traditional British army issue pocket knife of the 1940's and 1950's had a lambsfoot blade. A sheepfoot blade has an edge that is parallel to the spine or back of the blade. A lambfoot has a distinct taper, making the tip narrower than the area meeting the tang.

Beautiful knife Joe and my favorite type of main blade!

[kootenay joe]

Quote Tom: " lambsfoot blade (called in America a sheepsfoot blade)"
My understanding is that a sheepsfoot blade & lamb foot blade are different profiles just as a clip blade differs from a sheepsfoot. They are not referring to the same profile depending upon where you are in the world.
Why these 2 profiles exist i have never been able to discover; i.e. what does a lamb foot blade do that could not be done just as readily with a sheepsfoot blade ? Both are old profiles developed for a purpose, not just marketing.
kj

[LongBlade]

Tom - - but not sure I agree with lambs foot being called sheeps foot in America as that link alluded to in your post... indeed the pattern is more popular in England where it originated and my understanding was that that it wasn't developed or maybe better put popularized until later in the 1800s (the origins of the lambs foot blade are no doubt not clear).. and while I also noted the lambs foot has a spine non-parallel towards the tip there are multiple examples where this is not apparent depending upon the cutlery - both old and new knives in fact ... nonetheless sheeps foot and lambs foot are no doubt 2 blade designs that often confused by many - myself included and thus was looking into this on and off for some time now ... I am not being argumentative my friend - just throwing this out there ...

Note in edit as I just saw your post KJ - I had heard that the lambs foot with a more tapered blade shape was better for cutting in general but do believe both had purposes related to actually trimming sheep or lamb hooves ...

[Quick Steel]

Joe, What a wonderful knife. The clean lines, the bone, everything just flows beautifully. Thanks for showing this and congrats on this exceptional find.

[bestgear]

Lee, all good my friend just another case of unclassified nomenclature. I'm going with the fact that sheep meat can be called lamb until the sheep’s first birthday ergo a lambfoot blade is a young sheepfoot blade

[Tsar Bomba]

The OP knife is outstanding, I love the handles and stovepipe kick, and that blade is looking just fine for its age. This is a really neat thread with some great information! The subject of the lambsfoot has been kicked around a lot on the Big Forum with some participants boasting years of experience in the U.K. cutlery market. There's a long and ongoing thread about it over there, lots and lots of photos.

A lambsfoot/lamb foot blade is certainly a different beast than the sheepsfoot. The knife is more popular across the pond, for sure, but it does make its way over here and cutlers in the U.K. are still pumping them out. Besides the blade profile, a "true" lambsfoot knife also has certain characteristics, such as the swell-end/barehead jack shape with a slight swayback.

I have these two knives that have lambsfoot blades -- an actual lambsfoot knife and what I call a "Bar-lamb", both from Sheffield but manufactured about 40-50 years apart if I'm right about the age of the Wolstenholm:

[kootenay joe]

I never would have guessed that the top knife is British because of the jigging. Maybe handle slabs are imported ?
kj

[Tsar Bomba]

I never would have guessed that the top knife is British because of the jigging. Maybe handle slabs are imported ?
kj

It's possible, though unlikely. The UK has its share of 'gaudy' or oddly-jigged/hafted handles in recent years, I've noticed. This one doesn't have the "rounded out" jigging style I think of as "dried ponds", so I never really associated it with Far Eastern or Pakistani bone handles.

[FRJ]

I found that other Lamb Foot.
This one by an early C. Johnson & Co. "Johnson Western Works" Sheffield stamp. Says Goins. 4 1/8"
Placed on a early grease rag ......

[kootenay joe]

Very fine Stag on your Lamb Foot knife !
kj

[FRJ]

Thank you, kj.

[LongBlade]

As KJ said - another nice lambs foot and the old stag is awesome ... the old stag is just heads and heels above the modern day stag - you can identify the old knives especially from Sheffield just by that gnarly stag .... Like that gnarly old grease rag too Joe

[FRJ]

Thanks Lee.