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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on October 7, 2015 at 10:21

Al---Unwin and Rogers was in business circa 1838-1884.They were located in the Rockingham Works,124 Rockingham St., Sheffield, England.They manufactured Bowie style knives, pocket knives, and patented the Celebrated Pistol Knife, which they invented and manufactured.They sold their trademark "NON-XLL" in 1884 to Joseph Allen & Sons, and went out of business.They were in business in the early days of Sheffield "Bowie" knives and similar examples by them can sell for as much as $6000-8000 in good condition. This one is in pretty rough shape, but definitely worth grabbing if  you can get it  without spending a ton of money.

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Permalink Reply by Al Rogers on October 7, 2015 at 12:06

John, Thanks very much.  I haven't had a chance to inspect this knife in person yet, I can do that this Saturday.  It does look pretty rough from the photo, but being that old maybe not so bad.  You think a bid of $200 would be reasonable?  Al
 
John McCain said:

Al---Unwin and Rogers was in business circa 1838-1884.They were located in the Rockingham Works,124 Rockingham St., Sheffield, England.They manufactured Bowie style knives, pocket knives, and patented the Celebrated Pistol Knife, which they invented and manufactured.They sold their trademark "NON-XLL" in 1884 to Joseph Allen & Sons, and went out of business.They were in business in the early days of Sheffield "Bowie" knives and similar examples by them can sell for as much as $6000-8000 in good condition. This one is in pretty rough shape, but definitely worth grabbing if  you can get it  without spending a ton of money.

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In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on October 7, 2015 at 13:49

Al-I would spend $200 on it myself-Unwin & Rogers, (also spelled Unwin & Rodgers) are pretty rare and quite valuable. I have seen James Rodgers marked knives ( the Rodgers of the company) which  these Unwin & Rodgers knives are often marked as, sell for $6500 in a very similar style. It is tough to tell much from a single photo, but my biggest decision would be whether to spend extra money to have some conservation or restoration done on it if I owned it. A quality restoration expert might be able to replace the broken ivory with an age appropriate replacement,and the blade could be conserved to prevent further rust damage, without making it look new.Of course, this might cost a fairly substantial investment.Collectors have different opinions on this as whether to or not, but it could substantially increase its value if you were to resell it. A professionally restored knife, sold as such, still has great collector value. Everybody has an opinion on this, and of course it matters whether you plan on keeping the knife or reselling it.  

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Permalink Reply by Al Rogers on October 7, 2015 at 14:11

Thanks again John, very helpful as always.  The auction is coming up this Sunday, I'll let you know if I get it.  It's not really the type of knife that I enjoy so I would probably try to resell it for a profit.
 
John McCain said:

Al-I would spend $200 on it myself-Unwin & Rogers, (also spelled Unwin & Rodgers) are pretty rare and quite valuable. I have seen James Rodgers marked knives ( the Rodgers of the company) which  these Unwin & Rodgers knives are often marked as, sell for $6500 in a very similar style. It is tough to tell much from a single photo, but my biggest decision would be whether to spend extra money to have some conservation or restoration done on it if I owned it. A quality restoration expert might be able to replace the broken ivory with an age appropriate replacement,and the blade could be conserved to prevent further rust damage, without making it look new.Of course, this might cost a fairly substantial investment.Collectors have different opinions on this as whether to or not, but it could substantially increase its value if you were to resell it. A professionally restored knife, sold as such, still has great collector value. Everybody has an opinion on this, and of course it matters whether you plan on keeping the knife or reselling it.  

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on October 7, 2015 at 15:03

I agree with John, at 200.00 you should be ok. At the very least you could double the $. As far as restoration goes, right now with the ivory controversy I would likely sell as is..may a restoration person would be interested

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Permalink Reply by Al Rogers on October 7, 2015 at 18:25

Yeah, I wouldn't be interested in having it restored, if I can pick it up at a good price I'll throw it out there for somebody who might want to do something with it.  If I can make a little on it I'll put it toward a knife more to my liking.  I sure do appreciate all the help I get here on IKC, really glad I stumbled on y'all.

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Permalink Reply by Al Rogers on October 10, 2015 at 20:08

 
O.K. I had a chance to inspect this knife today and it's pretty rough.  It is all there but the handle is loose, ivory is chipped, blade has a couple small chips on cutting edge and has considerable pitting, however it is at least 130 years old.  In your expert opinions do you think it should be worth pursuing?  Auction is 10 am PST tomorrow.  Thanks.  Al R.

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Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on October 10, 2015 at 20:24

Al,

At this point I would not pursue it, IMO.  You have already stated your not going to want to do the restore, it sounds extensive and you would be left trying to find a restoration person wanting to buy it.  They are going to be looking at a lot of work so they are going to want it very inexpensive

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Permalink Reply by Bryan W on October 10, 2015 at 20:51

Note the collar and the guard it buts up against.  Granted its only one photo, but those two pieces alone make me question if those are original pieces to this knife.  Then, what else could be there...

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