I’m guessing it could be dated by the style of blade, and the form of the makers mark.
Is it etched, rather than stamped?

There’s several good knowledgeable folk on Facebook collectors groups, who might be able to identify which generation of Nowill, or whether it dates from after the name was sold on.
I’m a member of a couple, but could do with more photos, such as the overall shape, open and closed, as well as this one of the mark; is there anything on the other side of the blade?

I’ve always been on the lookout for a Tweedale book, but baulked at the price for my own small collection of Sheffield slipjoints.

One of my favourites, though I don’t carry it for day to day use, is this Thomas Renshaw.
Lovely filework on the spring, and made just below where I used to live in Sheffield

Bill

The handle shape is very much of the style of an earlier quill knife such as this one, though obviously newer and with some sort of plastic rather than wood; the sharp end is similar to a quill (pen) knife blade.
Nick Duggan of the Hawley Collection might be interested in a couple of photos, just for their records since it it a Sheffield knife.

I wonder if that one was made by Rogers, or Nowill as an illegal clone.

Bill

Another photo for you, This time a screenshot from the latest entry on the “Name on a Knife Blade” Facebook group; The same folk as your original link.
However critical I and many others are about FB, there are some very good and well informed groups on there, rather than just photos of what someone had for breakfast.

I’m actually off to a lecture there in Feb. about the history of Taylor’s Eye Witness

See also this link, unrelated to Sheffield; Trouble With Celluloid
Yes I know balisongs are illegal in the UK; I only post the link regarding handle materials.
“It’s also common to hear of whole collections going bad at the same time. Apparently, the gas emitted from the first one can trigger and accelerate the process in the others. If you have any knives or other items (celluloid was also common on costume jewellery, pens, and other decorative objects of the same era) with celluloid, I urge you to keep them separate from the rest of your collection and not to store them in closed containers.”

Bill

Hi All,

Roderick is correct, we have had loads of these over the years and many have Broad Arrow or Stationery Office marks.

Those with good makers marks and ebony or rosewood handles always seem to sell very well indeed, mostly to the USA.

Michael, the NOWILL ones do particularly well…. for some reason.

They often come up in tool lots that we get,some really abused!

Cheers, Martin

On 16 January 2024 at 17:55 Michael Gilligan Said:

…

These are just cheap & cheerful ‘scalpels’ with plastic handles

…

.

MichaelG.

Pedant alert, strictly speaking these are pen-knives, not scalpels.

First used to shape the nib of a quill pen from an actual bird feather, but when quills were replaced with steel nibs, the knives are good for sharpening pencils.   One advantage over a pencil-sharpener is that the knife can shape wedge ends, useful for all kinds of drawing.

Must have been made by the million – cheap enough to be almost disposable, and bought by every office and  drawing office in the land!  I guess they gradually went out of fashion after WW2, when pencil-sharpeners got cheap, ball-points and felt-tips arrived.  Even less need for them now offices have word-processors and engineers use CAD.

Folding pen-knives are still common; I carry one for cutting string and opening packages.  Never used it to sharpen a pencil though, let alone make a quill pen!

Anyone know how the Victorians made steel nibs:

Looks like a stamping, except the slit between the paper end and reservoir slot seems to be precision made.  How could it be made in a home workshop?

Dave

On 17 January 2024 at 12:00 Michael Gilligan Said:

Dear pedant Dave

Yes, I was tempted to call them pen-knives, but thought that might be ambiguous given current English usage !

On your other point: somewhere back in my family history, there were people involved in steel nib making … to the extent that they [allegedly] made the tooling.

Don’t know whether I will ever find the truth.

MichaelG.

Perhaps if you’re ever in Birmingham, visit The Pen Museum, one of those small, quirky, very specialised museums.
There’s some working machinery still on display.
Unfortunately, the web site doesn’t really give much of a flavour of the contents, though it does link to a little video;  Turn your volume down before viewing 😉

Bill

What an interesting thread! Thanks Michael.

We have had quite a few “lots” of pen nibs over the years, again normally found in with other tool oriented lots that we buy where ever we can.

An amazing amount of different makers and the Museum in Birmingham is well worth a visit.

We had one lot which had about 50 nibs which we started on EBay at 99p to see what would happen, they ended up in a USA collection for £85! We asked the guy what was so special and he said that he bought the lot just for 3 of the nibs missing from his collections! He would not say which ones!

Travelling ink wells are also good news and I have a local potter who will sometimes make me a new well if it is missing or broken.

Cheers, Martin