I was in a large antique market today seeking out shaving-related goodies. My eye caught sight of a vintage Sheffield straight, but what really got me was the item directly behind the razor: a vintage late 18th century ornately decorated Middletown silver-plate scuttle with matching brush. The brush could use a new knot, but overall, this piece was simply killer looking! Price tag said $268 but they would knock off 20% & bring the price down to $212! Tempting…..but about $100 more than I'd be willing to spend on a lovely scuttle, silver-plate or not. Very cool piece, however. The razor? A vintage Sheffield, about 7/8" width; hollow notch; nice blade! Hone wear on the tang has taken all but a partial "Sheff…" and "olds" for the maker stamp. I venture to guess it is a Frederick Reynolds (1860+). Scales were crummy & needing repinning. Asking $160……….nope. $45….maybe.
Hard to say. There was nothing indicative of any 'missing' part as I handled and inspected it. Heavier than I though it'd be. Brush handle felt cozy in the hand, too.
Very nice piece. Never seen one with a deep bowl for lathering. That makes more sense than the ceramic ones with a shallow depression for soap.
Holy cow HoyRollah, that is a beautiful scuttle and brush! Yes, the bowl is deeper than usual, a nice feature in my opinion. But man, the price! That is very high even for such a fine piece. I think $120-$150 would be a more realistic price range. Then again, it is the Christmas shopping season, so antique stores are probably raising prices this month. Looking on eBay, there are a lot of silver plated mugs and scuttles for sale. Most seem to go for $90 - $100, with some of the nicer examples going for a little more. That is sans brush, and many of them are sold as antiques when they are not (antiques are customarily items at least 100 years old). Even so, there are some very nice pieces to be had.
