All About Pocket Knives

I found this one in a cigar box of old, mostly German knives from a huge collection in Pennsylvania. Merscher Cutlery Works isn't listed in Goins or any other reference I have. Does anyone have any info on this cutler?

Nice old "quill" knife. I'd guess German, pre-tariff. IMHO ??. J.O'.

Thanks for your thoughts, J.O’. German was my first guess also. So pre-tariff would make it before 1890’s? Then again it looks a lot like a Ward Perley Miller Bro’s posted in the Antique Knives Made in England thread on March 13, 2021. That’s what I like about knife collecting, one new thing learned leads to a new question.

Again, just guessing, If a German-made knife has English words in it's stamping, like "Company","Works" or "Knife", it was most likely made for export to an English-speaking country, U.S., Canada, etc. With no stamp for the country of origin, and considering it's age, I assume it's pre-tariff. Your knife may not even be German, but, with those dark steel pins, it's a fair guess. Good luck with it. Let us know if you ever nail it down. By the way. is it white bone or ivory ? Can't tell from the pics. J.O'.

Thanks for the pointer about the dark steel pins being a German trait.

I have a lot of trouble telling the difference between old bone and ivory. My first guess is bone, but only a guess because it’s so yellow. I’ve asked my wife, a paintings conservator, to get a more definitive answer from one one of her colleagues who specializes in objects.

Lama wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 3:53 am Thanks for the pointer about the dark steel pins being a German trait.

I have a lot of trouble telling the difference between old bone and ivory. My first guess is bone, but only a guess because it’s so yellow. I’ve asked my wife, a paintings conservator, to get a more definitive answer from one one of her colleagues who specializes in objects.

Try looking at the scales with a magnifying lens. When visible through your magnifying lens, examine closely to assess if the surface of the piece is covered with lines or pores. If the piece is porous, it is almost certainly bone. Pores will look like very small dots or holes covering the surface of your piece.

... if you are looking at ivory, there will be lines on the surface. The lines on genuine ivory can appear in a variety of ways, including straight, cross-hatched, or in a circular motion.

When I blew up your top pic, I saw some brown areas near the first scale pin on the right. They look like the remains of blood capillaries like TopDog was talking about. My best guess would be bone, as those do not appear in ivory. It takes clear magnification to be absolutely sure. Quill knives are cool no matter what they're made of. J.O'.

It's Merscheid Cutlery Works

German made.

Thank you for the correction of my reading of the tang stamp, Miller Bro's. The end of the D runs off the blade.

Thanks also to J.O'. and GSPTOPDOG for the clarification between bone and ivory. The handle is indeed bone.

This site is amazing for its collected knowledge about knives, cutlery history, and the willingness to share that knowledge.

Merscheid is a town near Solingen, and was probably part of the cutlery guild centered in and around Solingen for centuries. Using the keyword “search” capability here on AAPK I was able to find several posts including information, and pictures of other knives made there. search.php?keywords=Merscheid&terms=all ... mit=Search

Ken