General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

2

Total Parts

9

AKA

Breakfast knife

Patents

N/A

General Description

Stainless steel blade and celluloid handle.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

22.9 cm

Width

2.1 cm

Height

1.3 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Domestic Technology

Category

Food service

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Mosley

Country

England

State/Province

Unknown

City

Sheffield

Context

Country

United Kingdom

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Early to mid-20th century

Canada

Purchased for the Story of Steel section in the Transforming Resources gallery. (From Acquisitions Worksheet, see Ref. 1)

Function

To cut food. (From Acquisitions Worksheet, see Ref. 1)

Technical

Harry Brearley, and English metallurgist, is generally credited with the development of, what he called, rustless steel in 1913. At the time, he experimented with steel to decrease erosion properties and increase sanitation of existing steels. In reality stainless steel was developed over many decades, with research on corrosion resistant varieties dating back to mid-1700s. There was a strong military component to this research. Soldiers who cleaned their iron armour and weapons were removing a protective coat and the armour rusted easily. 1838 R. Mallet established that adding chromium to iron increased the resistance to corrosion in the alloy by providing a film on the surface of a metal. The actual development of stainless steel is recognized by experts as a body of work conducted by scientists in Europe and North America including L.B. Guillet, A. M. Portevin, W. Borchers, E. Maurer, P Monnartz B. Strauss, C. Dantsizen and Harry Brearley. This is an early example of stainless steel knives, made by Robert F. Mosley in Sheffield, between 1914 and 1920. The handle is made of celluloid (more specifically xylonite), an early thermoplastic compound used to imitate ivory. The cutlery was developed by Ernest Stuart, who worked at Robert F. Mosley Portland Works. The company was the first in the world to produce stainless steel cutlery. Development of the stainless steel had a widespread effect on the manufacturing processes, facilitating mass production, decreasing prices of steel goods, and greatly increasing a number of products made of steel. Dating of the knives according to the Sheffield Museum. (From Acquisitions Worksheet, see Ref. 1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

On the proper front side of the blade: "RUSNORSTAIN"/ Robert F. Mosley Ltd./ Sheffield"

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Bright, silver coloured metal blade with yellowed synthetic handle.

Decoration

N/A