This knife was the most expensive item which I won recently in a Sheffield-based auction. It looked good in the catalogue and I was very happy when it arrived since, as major bonus, the main blade is marked ‘RODGERS CUTLERS TO HER MAJESTY’.
Whilst Prince Albert was alive and for some time after his death (he died in 1861), Queen Victoria decreed that Royal Warrant stamps should refer to ‘THEIR MAJESTIES’. This continued for a while then gradually died out. Received wisdom is that a knife marked to ‘HER MAJESTY’ and also stamped ‘ENGLAND’ dates from the period 1891-1901; if there is no reference to ‘ENGLAND’, then we are looking at pre-1891. I have been advised that the use of a sans serif font dates this present knife to some time in the 1880s.
The knife has particularly nice stag scales with a steel bolster and liners. One face of the knife has two blades, both of which retain almost all their original profile, a file and a button hook. The other face has an awl, a coarse ‘needle’, a gimlet and the obligatory corkscrew. Being all steel, except for the stag scales, it’s no lightweight. Length overall (closed): 3⅝”/9cm
A multitool knife such as this which has a hoof pick is generally referred to as a horseman’s knife; since this present knife lacks a hoof pick it qualifies as a sportsman’s knife.
Source: bought at auction.