
Jenner & Knewstub (1856-1889) / London – Sportsman’s Knife
Jenner and Knewstub was established in 1856 by Frederick Jenner and Fabian James Knewstub. The address was initially located at 33 St James Street and in 1862 was extended to 66 Jermyn Street. Both locations were in the St James, SW section of London which was an area frequented by the aristocracy for shopping. In fact Jenner & Knewstub held royal warrants with both the royal families of both Britain and Russia. They were not only listed as cutlers but in addition jewelers, watchmakers, and skilled craftsmen of dressing cases, jewelry boxes etc.. Jenner & Knewstub exhibited at the 1862 Exposition in London and the 1878 Exposition in Paris. Interestingly a partner of Jenner and Knewstub, Charles Louis Faber, died in 1886 but not much is known about when he joined the company nor his role. It is interesting that the company was liquidated and absorbed only 3 years later by A Webster & Co in 1890 which was located at 60 Piccadily, London. Supposedly the Jenner & Knewstub name continued for a time period under Webster as a limited company. (Summarized from The London Knife Book by Ron Flook and http://www.antiquebox.org/jenner-and-knewstub/ - in fact if you have The London Knife Book check Jenner & Knewstub for a photo of a closely related sportsman’s knife with just a few minor differences)
This Sportsman’s knife with ivory handles is 5 1/8” closed – a solid and very heavy knife with a few different blades, implements and interesting features. Despite the few small chips of ivory missing at the knife end, the blades are very full and all snap hard. I attached a photo below of the master blade closed in the handle and the tip couldn’t possibly be much longer – in fact the end of the spring which was used to create the catch bit had some special file work to allow the master blade to fit. Another photo shows the inner handle well where the pen blade was located – interestingly a spring was created that suspended off the master blade spring so that the pen blade would open and close perfectly. I can see that the end of the pen blade spring is suspended above of the master blade spring and seems to dovetail or be an extension of the runup from the main spring. This spring was the only way a pen blade of this size could be included on the knife in the same handle well - I have never seen a spring of this type within the handle of any other knife. Are others familiar with this design when 2 blades of significant size difference are located in the same handle?
The knife has 7 blades and implements including a master blade, pen blade, large glove hook (maybe gut hook) with a nail nick, corkscrew with some filework (photo attached), hoof pick and both the original pick and tweezers are still intact in the handle of the knife (given the exact fit). Given the chips of ivory were located on that end it is amazing the handle damage avoided those areas where the pick and tweezers are located – the chips were on both sides of the tab for the pick but notably the pick is secure…. The hoof pick is very tight on this knife and I have a feeling the ivory chips were perhaps a result of some aggressive attempts at opening


Of interest is also the scrimshaw work with the initials of the original owner which are abit of a mystery. It looks like the last name started with “K” and one other initial is “p” but can’t quite make out the first letter – maybe “g” or “q”?? I am assuming these letters were in “olde” English so I may not recognize the first letter..
For those interested, I posted the usual array of photos and some of the notable features of the knife for a closer view. Thanks for looking!!
The ruler gives some reference to the size -
Here's a view of where the master blade ends when closed - note a filed out area in run-up of spring to allow the full blade to close - also a cut out in handle for the pen blade is shown:
Note the spring inside the well to accommodate the smaller size of the pen blade which is open to the right in this photo:
Scrimshaw initials on the handle:
Tang Stamp of master blade but pen blade is marked exactly the same: