Schlieper Knife with Rare Stamp

[Paladin]

Guys,
There hasn't been a lot of activity here in a while so thought I'd stir the pot a little .
The link below will take you to an eBay knife that I consider to be truly rare. It is by Schlieper and it is likely made in the late 1950s to the early 1970s. I am dating based on the shield. The tang is stamped KORIUM and I have seen only about 3 of these in all the years I have collected Eye Brands and Schlieper cutlery.
I got my 1st one at a local gun/knife show quite a few years back for the princely sum of $15. The seller and the buyer both had no clue as to what was being sold or bought other than it was made by Schlieper and looked like an Eye Brand knife. I talked to people who spoke German and people who were from Germany without gaining a clue. I talked to my Kentucky Schlieper connection and he knew of them but had none. He would have paid any amount to get ahold of the stockman I had bought. In my wildest dream I never imagined the stamp would stimulate so much interest. I bombed him with the knife a little bit later.
I'd love for Joe Dobbs to join in on this discussion so we can see if he knows anything about this stamp. Come on in Joe, we need your expertise on this.
Maybe some of you have some knowledge about this stamp and if so, join in!
It is a great knife and in great condition.

Ray
http://www.ebay.com/itm/222240154141?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT

[wlf]

I know nothing Ray,but that is a nice looking stamp.

[EyeBJoe]

This is, in fact, a great knife in great condition. I have searched all of my older material regarding Carl Schlieper and Eye Brand and cannot find anything specific involving the Korium stamping. There is a small bit of information online as to Korium but nothing that would assist us in dating the brand or explaining how or why it was produced by Carl Schlieper. My only guess is that it was a brand originally produced for a specific country or region of the world and I don't belive it was produced by Schlieper for very many years. I concur with Paladin's thought as to a possible production timeline from the 1950's to early 1970's, but my instinct tells me it was in the earlier of that time frame. The subject knife is, I believe, a rare knife from Schlieper as to the tang stamping and possible dating. The knife itself was at one time referred to in catalog material as a Pattern No. 26, many of which carried the Fan Brand logo. This is all the info. at present that I can find. Hope someone else can chime in.

Joe D.

[Paladin]

Joe,
Thanks for helping out on this very interesting knife. I'm hoping one of the Eye Brand 'guys' here will jump on this one.

Ray

[kootenay joe]

It seems odd that "Korium" is not listed in LG4 or in Goins. I have 2 (?) knives branded "Korium" but no Eye Brand like 'rays' around it. They are not of particularly high quality. It would be interesting to discover some information on the Korium branding. Bernard Levine did discuss this a few years ago in his forum on Bladeforums. If someone here is a BF member they could find it with a search in the BRL forum.
The jigging on the handles on the ebay "Korium" does resemble Eye Brand jigging
kj

[EyeBJoe]

As an extension of the above, but perhaps a bit unrelated, in researching the "Korium" stamping I ran across an old photocopy that Mark Cruse sent to me many years ago when I was posing some of the many questions that we all have had about Carl Schlieper and Eye Brand. Evidently someone from the U.S. sent a set of questions regarding the cutlery to the Carl Schlieper Co. in Solingen. The response was sent to Mark. One of the answers was a posting of the Family Tree that had been "involved in the company from the beginning". If this has been posted before, I apologize in advance.

Carl Schlieper Family Tree


Jacob Schlieper
1625 1702

Melchior Schlieper
1661 1741

Johann Peter Schlieper
1698 1777

Johannes Engelbert Schlieper
1736 1813

Carl Jacob Schlieper
1766 1814

Carl Schlieper
1796 1832

Johann Carl Schlieper
1828 1884

Johann Carl Hermann Richard Walter
1855 1929 1856 1905 1868 1925
(Sons) (Sons)
Johann Carl Paul Georg Walter Arnold Hermann Curt
1891 1972 1898 1945 1898 1971 1910
(Son) (Son)
Hanspeter Hermann
1928 1938



Another question was posed as to "when did you start using the Eye in the tang stampings"? Answer: "First registration of the "Eye" Brand was made on August 14, 1953 in class 23". Just a few more bits and pieces of Carl Schlieper and Eye Brand info.


Joe D.

[Paladin]

Joe,
Good stuff and thanks much. This is info we'd never have except for you.

Ray

[kootenay joe]

AS the company is called "C. Schlieper" was it started by Carl Schlieper (1766-1814) whose name is about the middle of the above list ? Or did Jacob Schlieper (1625 1702) start the knife making business and the name was later changed to "C. Schlieper" ?
Despite looking at hundreds of thousands of knives on ebay over the years i have never seen an old "C. Schlieper" branded knife. By "old" i mean made before WW II.
Have you seen any ? Why are these so incredibly rare ?
kj

[EyeBJoe]

KJ, I have no information in my possession that can answer all your questions. There is only one person that I have knowledge of that could possibly answer some of these questions, and that is Walter Bruchhaus who was the General Manager of Carl Schlieper for over 25 years. I haven't communicated with Walter in over 5 years and do not know his status. I will try to reach out to him with the only known email address that I had several years ago and see if it is still active. He speaks fairly good English and may understand the nature of some of the questions. Not promising anything but I will make an attempt at contact. Maybe there is someone else out there that has interest in this forum who could shed some light on the history of the company and whether there are pre-WWII pieces that are in existence.

Joe D.

[kootenay joe]

Thanks eyeB. I am sure there are many who are interested in learning more about Schlieper knife company.
If Walter Bruchhaus prefers to reply in German, one of my daughters does translation work between English & German so i could get it translated properly.
Of all the knife manufacturers, Schlieper seems to be the most occult, i.e. knowledge of their past is hidden.
kj

[prairiedog]

SOLD
Ray, I jumped on this one. I know nothing about this knife other than it's maker...and being that it's the first one I've seen, well, I figured I had better seize the opportunity. Knives like this subject knife spark my interest and curiosity...so thanks for the heads up. I'll post more pics when it arrives in the mail.

[Paladin]

Perry,
Congrats and I am so glad you snagged it. Looking forward to photos and a report.

Ray

[kootenay joe]

I collect Schlieper but did not bid for this one because i thought Ray was going to. Good thing is it went to a forum member who will post pics here for posterity.
kj

[prairiedog]

Sorry for the delay...and the pics aren't the best...but the knife is a dandy! Very pleased...thanks again, Ray!

[Paladin]

Perry,
I somehow missed your post so sorry for not responding.
That knife is a real treasure for anyone with interest in Schlieper knives. The straight line stamp is the oldest known Schlieper stamping and was used thru 1965.
I am really glad you won that one.

Ray

[mansolingen]

Not sure this will add to the knowledge of this knife much. But I have a fixed blade stamped Korium, made in Solingen. There is some ads I have seen with a ball and claw dagger, a nude lady, and a bone handled knife with a eagle for a pommel, they are all marked Solingen Korium, made for export to the U.S. in 1955. Never seen one on a folding knife, rare find indeed, would think.

[Paladin]

Is it marked Schlieper, maybe on the blade? Does it have the Eye Logo again, maybe on the blade? It likely is an uncommon knife and a keeper.
Please post some photos.

Ray

[kootenay joe]

I had (still have ??) a Korium dagger with a pommel of an eagle's claw foot around a ball. Had no markings other than Korium and either Germany or Solingen. A few years back these would show up regularly on ebay and usually sold for under $50. I think they are a 1950-60's product meant to imitate some of the elaborate Germany military daggers.
kj

[EyeBJoe]

As a tag-on to this thread I thought I would share a recent "discovery" made while using one of my wife's scissors. When we first visited Solingen in 1983, we were introduced to several people that were part of the manufacture, finishing processes and sale of the cutlery of Carl Schlieper. One of the gentlemen that we were introduced to was responsible for "Domestic" sales of several components of the cutlery, meaning Germany and all of Europe. He presented my wife with a pair of nice scissors as a gift and she has treasured and used those scissors since. While cruising through the kitchen at our house this past weekend I saw those scissors laying on the counter and something caught my eye. Stamped on one of the scissor blades was the straight line Carl Schlieper logo, and on the other blade was stamped "Korium". Remembering this thread and the questions posed as to a possible link between Schlieper and the name Korium, I thought I would pass the along the info. The same questions are still out there as to the nature of the link but it seems that there was perhaps at one time a portion of the cutlery, or perhaps a specific customer or market to which the Korium products were directed. The mystery continues.

Joe D.

[EyeBJoe]

Thought I would send pictures of the scissors spoken of in my last post to again document some kind of link between Carl Schlieper and the "Korium" stamping.

Korium - 2.jpg (2.56 KiB) Viewed 17785 times

[EyeBJoe]

Some day I will actually figure out how to post multiple pictures the correct way.

[Paladin]

Good addition, Joe. As a collector of Schlieper 'things' or 'stuff', it is really interesting to me. Kinda makes my mind go into overdrive trying to imagine the significance.

Ray

[EyeBJoe]

I have never been satisfied with the Schlieper chronology that I posted to this topic before. I am hopeful that the attachment comes through to add a bit more detail as to the Schlieper family history.

Joe D.

[Paladin]

I have never been satisfied with the Schlieper chronology that I posted to this topic before. I am hopeful that the attachment comes through to add a bit more detail as to the Schlieper family history.

Joe D.

Joe,
Check your PMs.

Ray

[RWB]

I realize this is an old thread but I'm interested in the "Korium" branding label as well. I have 2 ball and claw handled daggers marked "Korium", they are the forged solingen steel, made in Germany versions. They were made, I believe, for export to the US. Novelty knives. I'm also fairly certain that Carl Scheiper (Eye Brand) was one of the sub contractors making them for the American importer. Robert Klass may have been another sub as well. I'm not interested in the "Black Forest" or the "Pic" versions of these Korium knives as I suspect the steel quality to be inferior. My mutual interest is in the name "Korium". Is it German? If so what does it mean? So many German blades are marked "Rostfrei" which simply means rust free. Is korium a German word having a German meaning that distinguishes an export line of cutlery or is it an American name for a consortium of investors behind the import company? Where and what does "Korium" come from and signify?? Finding that out would be helpful to the original question concerning the pocket knives as well I think.