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I was very happy to be the only bidder on this NOS brush recently. I have now used it and it's rather good, as well as being I think rather pretty. Coupla q.s for the experts here if you don't mind...

1.) There's no maker on this anywhere afaics, so I was wondering if anyone recognized the sticker? I thought the handle looked fairly Simpson-like, however the knot isn't all badger. It's badger round the outside and boar in the middle I think, and I'm not sure Simpson ever did that?

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2.) I also have a very nice old Japanese Ribbon razor, where the plastic scales have done a similar kind of 'butterscotching'. Would these be made out of the same thing then? Or do lots of plastics do it?

IMG_3537.jpg


IMG_3534.jpg
 

Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
I was very happy to be the only bidder on this NOS brush recently. I have now used it and it's rather good, as well as being I think rather pretty. Coupla q.s for the experts here if you don't mind...

1.) There's no maker on this anywhere afaics, so I was wondering if anyone recognized the sticker? I thought the handle looked fairly Simpson-like, however the knot isn't all badger. It's badger round the outside and boar in the middle I think, and I'm not sure Simpson ever did that?

View attachment 1805474

View attachment 1805454


2.) I also have a very nice old Japanese Ribbon razor, where the plastic scales have done a similar kind of 'butterscotching'. Would these be made out of the same thing then? Or do lots of plastics do it?

View attachment 1805504

View attachment 1805503


The knot might be boar dyed to look like badger, but I'm not at all sure.

The straight looks to me like it might be bakelite but I'm no expert.

In any case, these are both great finds.



7-16-23.Plasticet.Bakelite.Lake.640.JPG



This old brush and its stand are bakelite for sure. Bakelite goes through a number of color changes over time.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
The knot might be boar dyed to look like badger, but I'm not at all sure.

The straight looks to me like it might be bakelite but I'm no expert.

In any case, these are both great finds.



View attachment 1805514


This old brush and its stand are bakelite for sure. Bakelite goes through a number of color changes over time.

Happy shaves,

Jim


It’s a bit tricky to see in my pics above, but the sticker says ‘bristle & badger’ at the top, and has a picture of a badger’s head in the middle.

To my eye it looks like a little bit of badger round the outside and then boar in the middle? (Though I know very little about brushes tbh).

IMG_3482.jpeg



Yours is lovely btw! Mine certainly hasn’t gone that dark yet.
 
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Chan Eil Whiskers

Fumbling about.
It’s a bit tricky to see in my pics above, but the sticker says ‘bristle & badger’ at the top, and has a picture of a badger’s head in the middle.

To my eye it looks like a little bit of badger round the outside and then boar in the middle? (Though I know very little about brushes tbh).

View attachment 1805537


Yours is lovely btw! Mine certainly hasn’t gone that dark yet.


Very interesting "mistura!"

Thanks for clarifying the construction.

Happy shaves,

Jim
 
NOS Culmak 55 in best
 

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Legion

OTF jewel hunter
Staff member
I was very happy to be the only bidder on this NOS brush recently. I have now used it and it's rather good, as well as being I think rather pretty. Coupla q.s for the experts here if you don't mind...

1.) There's no maker on this anywhere afaics, so I was wondering if anyone recognized the sticker? I thought the handle looked fairly Simpson-like, however the knot isn't all badger. It's badger round the outside and boar in the middle I think, and I'm not sure Simpson ever did that?

View attachment 1805474

View attachment 1805454


2.) I also have a very nice old Japanese Ribbon razor, where the plastic scales have done a similar kind of 'butterscotching'. Would these be made out of the same thing then? Or do lots of plastics do it?

View attachment 1805504

View attachment 1805503
Those scales are a type of celluloid, or “French Ivory”.

They did make razor scales out of Catalin, the type of vintage plastic the real butterscotch brushes were made from, but they are rare, and quite prone to warping.

IMG_5207.jpeg
 

timwcic

"Look what I found"
I was very happy to be the only bidder on this NOS brush recently. I have now used it and it's rather good, as well as being I think rather pretty. Coupla q.s for the experts here if you don't mind...

1.) There's no maker on this anywhere afaics, so I was wondering if anyone recognized the sticker? I thought the handle looked fairly Simpson-like, however the knot isn't all badger. It's badger round the outside and boar in the middle I think, and I'm not sure Simpson ever did that?

View attachment 1805474

View attachment 1805454


2.) I also have a very nice old Japanese Ribbon razor, where the plastic scales have done a similar kind of 'butterscotching'. Would these be made out of the same thing then? Or do lots of plastics do it?

View attachment 1805504

View attachment 1805503
It does have a Simpson aura to it but Rooney made house brand and private label brushes using bristle & badger knots. Whatever it is, it is a looker
 
It does have a Simpson aura to it but Rooney made house brand and private label brushes using bristle & badger knots. Whatever it is, it is a looker


Ah that maybe sounds a more likely candidate then. You're right - a quick google search and there are definitely some Rooney shapes that look extremely similar too. Cheers for pointing that out, as I'm no expert on these things.

Certainly quite a high quality brush, with a pretty densely packed knot, and even though I've been using it a fair bit I can't remember it losing a single bristle yet.
 
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