Rhyolith
Established Member
These caught my eye in a junk shop and upon closer inspection I concluded they were easily the highest quality pair of scissors I have even come across! They are just shy of 14" long (entire length).
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on Flickr
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on Flickr
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on Flickr
The asking price was rather high at £38, which almost put me off buying them... but a haggle resulted in it dropping to £30 which was too hard to resist.
A quick bit of research reveals they were probably worth it and then some! The Make is a prestigious one, having made scissors for queen Victoria and won awards at the great exhibition at crystal palace (1862). Great thing is they are still about and making scissors! Though under a merged with another english scissor company "William Whitley" http://www.whiteley.co.uk/timeline.html.
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on Flickr
(the blue in the writing is buffer polish that I missed until the close up)
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on Flickr
Looking at the style of my pair and some of the adverts listed on the Whitley website's timeline, my guess is that they are from the 1870s. This is furthered by the fact that Whitley and T.Wilkinson merged (Whitley bought Wilkinson) in 1875, so a carrying the T.Wilkinson name makes in likely that there predate that.
There is a forum post somewhere (lost it) that states these type of scissors are called "Big Bolt" (for obvious reasons) and are highly collectable, with good makes like this being worth values into the triple figures! Don't know how true that is, but I am not interested selling them anyway (MINE MINE MINE :twisted: !!!).
I would be interested if anyone can confirm with greater certainty that they are Victorian, or tell me anything else about them
Thanks
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on Flickr
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on Flickr
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on FlickrThe asking price was rather high at £38, which almost put me off buying them... but a haggle resulted in it dropping to £30 which was too hard to resist.
A quick bit of research reveals they were probably worth it and then some! The Make is a prestigious one, having made scissors for queen Victoria and won awards at the great exhibition at crystal palace (1862). Great thing is they are still about and making scissors! Though under a merged with another english scissor company "William Whitley" http://www.whiteley.co.uk/timeline.html.
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on Flickr(the blue in the writing is buffer polish that I missed until the close up)
T.Wilkinson & Son "Big Bolt" Scissors by Rhyolith, on FlickrLooking at the style of my pair and some of the adverts listed on the Whitley website's timeline, my guess is that they are from the 1870s. This is furthered by the fact that Whitley and T.Wilkinson merged (Whitley bought Wilkinson) in 1875, so a carrying the T.Wilkinson name makes in likely that there predate that.
There is a forum post somewhere (lost it) that states these type of scissors are called "Big Bolt" (for obvious reasons) and are highly collectable, with good makes like this being worth values into the triple figures! Don't know how true that is, but I am not interested selling them anyway (MINE MINE MINE :twisted: !!!).
I would be interested if anyone can confirm with greater certainty that they are Victorian, or tell me anything else about them
Thanks
