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Posted 10 months ago
Hems303
(49 items)
This Victorian solid silver pencil set is from my collection of pre-20th century English writing & drawing equipment. As a professional artist & illustrator; I fairly frequently use items from my collection in the execution of my artworks. So I am a user as well as being an avid collector. The above set is housed in a leather effect box with solid sterling silver (24g approx.) decoration to the box top. The inside is lined with a midnight blue velvet, and has a lift-out section that cushions the main item which is a beautiful Sampson Mordan (one of the greatest English silversmiths of the 19th C.) Sterling Silver pencil holder or "case" as they are sometimes termed. It incorporates a handworked and engraved letter opener and has a fitted, removable pencil sharpener to the rear of the cedar pencil. Overall length is 17.9cm. Length of the main body including the pencil sharpener bezel is 9cm. The length of the extracted pencil sharpener is 3.3cm. Total weight is 29.1g. It is hallmarked for London and 1896. The level of care in making even the box is amazing: the base of the lift-out section is cupped in a shallow solid silver "tray" (you can just about see this detail in the third and fourth picture).
Here is the link to the 2nd post covering this item:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/68249-2nd-sampson-mordan-victorian-silver-pen#comment-229664
PencilsThe modern pencil was born in 16th-century England, where, in Cumbria, a ma…
Victorian EraThe Victorian Era, named after the prosperous and peaceful reign of England…
This has been re-posted (thanks Hunter) on recovery following deletion. All comments wellcome! :)
Thanks BELLIN68 & collector4evr, glad you all appeciate this little collection, this is one of my real "treasured" treasures...and the two silver pencils are still often used in my artwork too! I just love to handle them. Very tactile!
For anyone interested I completed the "Badger" pencil sketch in the following link, WITH the silver pencil holder above, and enjoyed every minute of it! :)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hems303/
scandinavian_pieces: Many thank for you gracious comments. Hunter came up with the idea of using Flickr...man's a genius! :) I'm gonna try and change the pictures occasionally....I think people can even leave comments on Flickr, rude or otherwise..LOL :)
That was a great idea...I was very happy to see your work again Hems !!!!!
Cheers Hedgewalker...that's Hunter... a man of great ideas! ;)
Here is the link to the 2nd post covering this item:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/68249-2nd-sampson-mordan-victorian-silver-pen#comment-229664
Does anyone know the best adhesive to repair the velvet/velour that is lining these type of Victorian boxes, but is "lifting" in places. Should I use something like traditional rabbit skin size, or similar, or modern adhesive?
scandinavian_pieces; thanks for the info, I was just about to try Copydex as someone else recommended it for cloth, thanks for the "heads-up". I think I'll do multiple "non-critical experiments (probably the safest way) with various adhesives, starting with Bostick.
I enjoyed your family pictures (saved some in collections). Thanks for checking out my Flickr photostream!
I'll let you know how it turns out!
Thanks for the appreciation from collector4evr, BELLIN68, toolate2, mustangtony, Hedgewalker, inky, scandinavian_pieces and officialfuel!
(8/7)
Here is a link to my CW Post dealing with Lead refills for Antique propelling pencils, especially Mordan examples:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/75513-sampson-mordan-lead-refills-for-gold-and-s
great posting all very informative -- glad blunderbuss2 put me onto you -- have a great weekend
epson233, cheers my friend! Much appreciated......good'ole blunderbuss! Lucas has the sort of sense of humour that blisters paint but makes you grin on even the darkest day!
Kind Regards Steve
P.S. sorry for the delay in replying to your comment, but I've been away from any contact with Collectors Weekly for several weeks!