6. Sheffield Cutlery becomes a major industry
During the English Civil War Cromwell gave inspection rights to the Cutlers’ Company of Hallamshire in Sheffield and by 1640 knife making had become a major industry with knives being made especially for use at the table with silver or ivory handles. Scissors were also being made for tailors and pen knives for use with quill pens. There was a big demand for knives and anything with a cutting edge.The Cutlerys' Company took over responsibility for registering makers' marks, regulating the quality of workmanship and binding of apprentices.
7. Cutlery after the Restoration
After 1660, when Charles 11 was restored to the throne, knives, forks and spoons were being used at court. Offering silver knives to guests at the table demonstrated wealth! Only the very rich could afford to do this. Such knives were not dual purpose as they could not be used as weapons, but only for eating. Spoons and forks were also being made in Birmingham.
There were strict laws on silver production which said that items had to include the makers’ name, place where they made and the year they were made.
8. Hanovarian Cutlery
Forks were still quite rare until the late 18th century and were usually only used for food which was likely to stain the fingers or which was sticky. Georgian canteens contained knives, forks and spoons.
In 1811 the Prince Regent took delivery of the first consignment of the Grand Service from Rundell, Bridge and Rundell who were the Royal Goldsmiths. The cost was the equivalent of £3 million today. The service was made of silver gilt i.e. solid silver covered with a thin layer of gold. As well as dishes and plates there were all kinds of knives, forks and spoons including marrow scoops, olive spoons and ice spades. The Grand Service is still used for state banquets today.
9. Silver plated cutlery
Silver plating was invented in 1842 and was first used by Elkingtons of Birmingham. Silver was deposited by elctrolysis on a base metail. The material to be coated is placed in a solution containing ions of the silver and then an electric current passed through it which makes the silver adhere to it. The thickness of the plating depends on how long the item is suspended in the vat .
10. Parish Patterns
In Sheffield the Parish Patterns were being developed in the district of Hallamshire. These patterns have remained popular until the present day. They are now copied all over the world. They include Kings , Bead, Harley, DuBarry, Old English, Rattail, Grecian and others.
11. English Cutlery in the early 20th Century
The Colonies of the British Empire provided a very large market for English Cutlery.
In 1902 there over twenty companies in Birmingham who were making nothing else but spoons and forks . As well as these specialists , there were also hundreds of small silversmiths who made spoons and forks amongst other items. Very few spoon and fork makers made knives as well. At the time the only competition seems to have been from Solingen in Germany.
The knives to go with these spoons and forks were made in Sheffield. They seldom matched the forks and spoons. Many had bone , wooden, ivory or mother of pearl handles. By now the Sheffield knife makers were also making cut throat razors , scissors and anything with a cutting edge.
The knife blades had to contain carbon and they were worked red hot. The bar steel was cut and plunged into a furnace. The crafsmen would hold the hot piece of metail with tongs and a drop stamp would form a bolster. Blade rolling was done red hot. The blades would be cut to shape before being hammered into shape. The handles had to have a hole bored into them and the blade was inserted into this.
The problem was that carbon blades used at this time would show pitting and rust. They would stain as soon as they touched food and they had to be buffed every week. This kept the blades nice and sharp but it was tedious and time consuming work.
12. Stainless Steel Cutlery
Stainless steel was invented during World War 1 by Harry Brierly who was trying to research a method to stop gun barrels from rusting. He discovered that, if he added chromium to the conventional alloy, the steel became stainless. This process was ideal for knife blades .It meant that knife blades would no longer need polishing in the home. At the same time machine grinding came in which would eventually replace hand grinding.
Stainless steel spoons and forks were not yet made. They had chromium plating first onto a polished nickel silver alloy base. “Old English” still accounted for 90% of all the cutlery sales in the U.K.
Spoons and forks when they were first stamped had rough edges which used to be filed by hand. Then an emery wheel turning at a rate of 1,500 revs per minute was used. This needed to be done before they were polished.. Forks had to be “cuttered” i.e. a thin revolving wheel was used to remove the burrs between the fork prongs . This also tapered them and sharpened the ends. Fly presses were used for bending and setting the blanks to the correct contours. Women polishers in Birmingham were known as “moppers” and in Sheffield they were called “buffers”.
White xylonite handled knives were being made in Sheffield by now and the blades were taken to outwork grinders. There were very few knives made in one piece with the handles (monoblock).
At this time stainless steel was more expensive than chrome plated cutlery.
13. The Cutlery Industry and World War 11
By the Second World War the government decreed that no spoons and forks could be made in Birmingham and Birmingham manufacturers had to gear up for the war effort. This finished Birmingham as a main centre for the manufacture of spoons and forks. All spoon and fork manufacture shifted to Sheffield where the knives were already being made.
14. Post War Cutlery
After the war there was a labour shortage and also a shortage of materials. Stainless steel had become popular by the 1950s. Outworkers were used. These included grinders, hafters, polishers, etchers etc. Every single process was done by a different person and it was hard to get the work done.
By the 1950s and early 1960s Scandinavian designs were popular. These were plain and stark. Later in the1960s Parish Patterns became popular again. The most popular at the time was Kings pattern. In 1964 there were over 15,000 workers in the cutlery industry in Sheffield and 150 separate cutlery companies.
15. Imported Cutlery becomes popular
By 1970 competition was growing. Boots the Chemist used to sell cutlery and they began importing from Hong Kong. The other country exporting at that time was Japan. The Japanese were using methods based on those used in Sheffield and Solingen.
By 1978 Viners were purchasing from Korea and in 1980 even British Airways began to use imported cutlery. The Sheffield method of knife making which was such a guarantee of quality had become inefficient compared with methods the overseas competition were using. Overseas they were using the same techniques as the Sheffield factories but had streamlined the process.The quality of imported cutlery had improved to such an extent that it was now challenging the Sheffield manufacturers.
People still want quality knives, forks and spoons. They want cutlery which is practical, easy to look after and which will last. They want cutlery which will make a statement and speak to the guest and they do not want to pay a small fortune for it! Whilst a small amount of cutlery is still being made in Sheffield the vast majority is now imported from overseas manufacturers who have used the methods, processes , styles and quality pioneered by the British craftsmen of yesteryear.
