Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object ID # |
2007.012.004 |
Object Name |
Knife, Head |
Other Name |
Knife, Round |
Title |
Ernst Kuglin's Head Knife |
Lexicon category |
4: T&E For Materials |
Year Range from |
1850 |
Year Range to |
1900 |
Artist |
George Barnsley & Sons |
Made |
Geo. Barnsley & Sons |
Place of Origin |
England, United Kingdom |
Description |
Hand tool for slicing leather. Has a worked wooden handle. The steel blade is curved and made of Sheffield steel. It is impress-stamped on one side of the blade with the maker's name. There is a plain-looking brass ferrule. The wooden grip is darkly finished. The handle has a square-holed screw head visible that is likely an addition. There is also a nail or rivet in the handle. The handle is otherwise smooth, and tapers to the ferrule. |
Makers mark |
Impressed with a large "A" and a duck head motif, with curving lettering: "GEO. BARNSLEY & SONS. / SHEFFIELD, ENG." |
Provenance |
Manufactured by George Barnsley & Sons in Sheffield, England. This company was established in the 19th-century, and made various leatherworking tools. This item likely dates to between 1850 and 1900. It belonged to Ernst Kuglin (1856-1955), who apprenticed as a harness-maker in Germany and briefly served with the Prussian Army. He emigrated to Buffalo, New York, circa 1885, and came to Canada shortly after, where he owned a harness shop in Williamsford, Grey County. It was last owned by Dennis E. Kuglin of Owen Sound, Grey County, a grand-son of Amelia and Ernst Kuglin. |
Collection |
Harnessmaking Equipment Collection |
Material |
Wood/Steel/Finish/Brass |
Dimensions |
W-9.5 L-17.5 D-2.5 cm |
Found |
Williamsford, Township of Chatsworth, Grey County |
People |
Kuglin, Ernst Kuglin, Dennis E. |
Subjects |
Grey County Business Williamsford, Ontario |
Function |
A leatherworker's hand tool, used to slice or thin leather. They sometimes had a leather sheath with them to put onto the blade when it was being stored. Harnessmaker or saddler's head knife (also called a round knife). It is a hand tool for slicing leather. |