Old joseph rodgers knife

[Adrian Cook]

Hi there .hope you all had a happy christmas and santa was good to you all ..Well had this knife for a while but i had acloser look at it yesterday and wondered if the stamping on the blade is normal as i haven't seen it before.ive took some photos in a hope for more information on it.thanks.oh i forgot to mention there appears to be some lettering on the top of the blade near the tang just above the hand forged stamping .looks to me to be I R E?

[neddy]

Possible,  To Strike Fire, sure I've seen this on one.

[RLongden]

I think 'Neddy' is almost certainly correct. The engraved letters 'IRE' are probably what is left of the words 'TO STRIKE FIRE', although the blade of your knife appear to be badly worn and most of the lettering, along with the original shape of the knife, has been obliterated.

In the days before matches were commonplace, knife blades could be used to make fire by dragging across a flint, or the like, to create sparks and hence kindle a flame. From the look of the back of your knife blade, it looks well used for this purpose, as it appears very worn on this edge? I've attached a photo of a similar Joseph Rodgers knife blade and although also quite worn, the lettering and details are still clearly visible.

The other lettering on the knife blade is consistent with Joseph Rodgers. The makers name in the centre of the blade, the star and Maltese Cross trademark with 'ENGLAND' below, the 'No.6 Norfolk Street, Sheffield' address.

I'm sure you've seen the history page on the site of the Eggington group who now own the Joseph Rodgers brand, but link below if you're interested...

https://www.eggintongroup.co.uk/history/the-history-of-joseph-rodgers.html