Ended up winning an auction for this small (tiny?) "Maw of London" brush and bakelite-cap storage canister. Anyone have any info on "Maw of London" as a company? I wonder if this will be a complete pain to re-knot....but, I really like the look of it!
I wouldn't reknot it. The knot looks pretty useable. At 3" tall, it's about the size of a modern Wee Scot. Neat brush. Here's an ad from 1940. Looks like they were a pharmacy (or chemist, as the Brits call them).
You're right the knot looks pretty decent - especially if the seller is correct in that it's from the 1920s-1930'.... which I don't quite know if it is. We shall see when it makes it across the pond to me. Set me back a good twenty bucks though....
Maw of London started out as a maker of surgical instruments. Apparently they branched out into other medical and pharmaceutical items as indicated by the ad above.
Neat - it does indeed say "Meritor" on the back of the brush! And, the more I look at it maybe the knot can be used as is....
Was able to dig up some information about the company, this is from 1923: Two Sides to the Question of Shaving Brushes Out of consideration both to your customers and to yourself, you will do well to seej:hat the shaving brushes you sell are made by the House of Maw. Maw's shaving brushes embody all the qualities that the discriminating customer will demand, and conform to all the conditions required by the chemist who has a careful eye on profits and reputation. Points for yaw Customer . 1. Every Maw's shaving brush carries a printed Guarantee of quality. 2. Every Maw's shaving brush is sterilized by an improved process which removes all risk of infection. 3. A Maw's shaving brush cannot shed its hairs. The hair runs right down into the handle, and a special process of cementing is used which fixes each hair with rock-like security for all time. 4. Maw's shaving brushes are the product of a firm of actual manufacturers with a splendid reputation for quality to sustain. Skilled handcraftmanship and painstaking supervision are employed in every stage of their making. Point 8 for You. 1, Maw's shaving brushes are made in a wide variety of patterns which enable you to please all your customers. 2. When you sell a Maw's shaving brush you know that you must, because of the splendid quality of the brush, give complete satisfaction to your customer and thus enhance your goodwill. 3, Maw's shaving brushes are supplied at a price which allows you to meet competition and still secure a fair profit. 4. Maw's brushes, by virtue of the selling arguments mentioned above, are easy to sell. A Maw's shaving brush is a really good article which merits your strongest recommendation by its appearance and performance. When you order shavers order Maw's. S. Maw, Son & Sons Ltd Aldersgate St.. London and Barnet.
I would say Simpson's is the most likely candidate, simply because they have a long history of brush making before their "official" founding in 1919, and they also are known to have made brushes for a variety of other companies (mostly clothiers, barber's & chemists), about 40-50 in all.
I wonder if this will be a complete pain to re-knot....but, I really like the look of it! You might want to reconsider. The ad states that they make the brushes. It appears that this company became more of a medical and instrument manufacturing company over time from their start as a chemist shop (pharmacist shop). "Out of consideration both to your customers and to yourself, you will do well to see that the shaving brushes you sell are made by the House of Maw." There were many more makers back then than the surviving four majors (Kent, Rooney, Vulfix, and Simpson). Craftsmen were readily available to manufacturers in London at the time that could support multiple houses. http://cosgb.blogspot.com/2010/10/s-maw-son-sons-ltd.html In 1973 S. Maw, Son & Sons Ltd. was acquired by the American company, International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation Inc. despite this company having no links at all with the pharmaceutical industry. In addition: Reproduced from: 'The Pharmaceutical Industry: A Guide to Historical Records', edited by Lesley Richmond, et al., Ashgate, 2003: S Maw, Son & Sons Ltd., Monken Hadley, Barnet, London Manufacturing chemist The business was founded as Hornby & Maw at Fenchurch Street, London, in 1807 by George Maw, originally a Lincolnshire farmer, in joint partnership with his cousin Hornby. This was a short-lived venture and in 1814 Maw left to purchase a surgical plaster factory in Whitecross Street, London. The factory soon began to manufacture surgical instruments and later expanded to produce druggists' sundries, toiletries and pharmaceutical products. Maw's eldest son, John Hornby Maw, was sent to study under Abernethey and Stanley at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, in order to obtain an understanding of the requirements of surgeons. John was taken into partnership by his father in 1826, and the firm was renamed George Maw & Son. George retired in 1828 and his second son, Solomon, joined his brother in partnership. In 1832 the firm was trading as J & S Maw. John retired in 1835 due to ill health and under Solomon the business expanded rapidly. The firm's first catalogue was produced in 1830, outclassing many rival publications with its lavish illustrations. Following several moves within the City, the business eventually settled at 7-12 Aldersgate Street, premises that had to be completely rebuilt following a fire in 1856. In 1860 Solomon's son, Charles, was taken into partnership and the business was restyled S Maw & Son. On Solomon's death in 1861, Charles took sole charge of the business until 1870 when John Thompson, who had served the firm as a traveller for 10 years, was made a partner and the business was renamed S Maw Son & Thompson. In 1901 the business was incorporated as a limited liability company, styled S Maw, Son & Sons Ltd, following Thompson's retirement. By this time Charles Trentham Maw and Mowbray T Maw were directors and were joined in 1901 by Dr. H T Maw. Owing to lack of space in inner London after the First World War, the company purchased a 22-acre estate at Monken Hadley, Barnet, in 1920 to which it re-located some of its manufacturing operations. The transfer was completed in 1940. Following this the company was renamed Maws pharmacy Supplies Ltd, and in 1959 acquired the business of Felstead Manufacturing Co Ltd. In 1965 a new limited liability company, S Maw Son & Sons Ltd, was incorporated, to acquire the businesses of Maws Pharmacy Supplies Ltd and Felstead Manufacturing Co Ltd. Shares in S Maw Son & Sons Ltd were jointly owned by the holding company of the trade association, the National Pharmaceutical Union, NPU Holdings Ltd, and Norcros Ltd, Reading. In the same year a commercial agreement was signed between S Maw Son & Sons Ltd and NPU Holdings Ltd, whereby the former agreed to distribute products sponsored by the National Pharmaceutical Union. This contract operated until 1974. In 1973 Norcros Ltd sold its shares in S Maw Son & Sons to the American company, International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation Inc., which traded as ITT Inc. S Maw Son & Sons Ltd was acquired shortly afterwards as a wholly-owned subsidiary of ITT Inc, a company which, in 1973, owned 333 subsidiary companies which had no apparent corporate or technical relationship with each other and no obvious link with the pharmaceutical industry.It has also been recorded that they made a material suitable for lathing to make handles for instruments and other items. Chemist and Druggist: The Newsweekly for Pharmacy, Volume 73 Albicaud Catheters - Messrs. S. Maw, Sons & Sons, Aldergate Street, London call our attention to a series of catheters they are now making, in which a new white flexible material — albicaud— is employed possessing some advantages in use and appearance over coloured flexible gum. Albicaud looks like ivory but is quite pliable. It takes a good polish and can sterilised by boiling without injury to the material. So it appears we have uncovered an manufacturer that was eventually absorbed by other companies and simply ceased making shaving brushes. BTW: Very nice example of a 1920s - 1930s brush.
More items in this address made by Maw. http://www.thegarret.org.uk/collectionmeasuring.htm#19901692 http://www.nwknives.com/smawandsonlondonfoldingsurgicalinstrumentknife.aspx
Sometimes those old bristles can be brittle from being dried out for decades. Soak them before you mess with them at all.
Received the brush and metal/bakelite holder this week and it looks really neat. No cracks or chips in the handle and the knot looks really good. Here it is next to an SOC boar brush to show a sense of scale: There are no markings on the canister itself apart from on the bottom where it says "Chromeplate. Made in England" A very neat, tiny brush. Will try to clean it gently and see if the knot comes back to life....
That knot looks amazing. I've never seen such long tips on a badger brush before. You might want to put clear nail polish protector over the label, going just past the edges. It shouldn't affect the value of the brush, and will preserve the sticker for years to come.
Hi guys, from what I can find Maws made their own brushes not rebadged. I restored the old pottery one over on BB (MAW London (S. Maw, Son & Sons) black glazed pottery shaving brush circa 1930) but the earliest image I could find for one of their shaving brushes is circa 1914 which is of a Bone handle. The company used silvered wire to stop the handles from splitting. I was looking for other examples when I found your brush. what was exciting was finding this exact same style brush from 1914 for sale on ebay but the listing had ended (sold for 6 pound, damn what a steal!) the naming and type of brush hair were as follows; Nelson - Extra fine Badger Admiral - Badger and Hair Nusuper - Badger and Bristle Howe - Superhog Drake - Badger and Bristle Sportsman - Badger and Hair Guardsman - Badger and Hair Ace - Silver hog Spot - super badger General French - ? British Major – Super Hog Hair
Maw's also used the Meritor name for their shaving brushes and this stand would then place the following brush in the 'Nelson' style (extra fine badger)
