Available online for two weeks before this piece moves to our showroom floor.
An ordinary kitchen knife with a remarkably well-preserved family story.
This antique kitchen knife was manufactured in Sheffield, England by A.J. Jordan and retains a handwritten family note attached to its wooden handle. The knife is connected to the family of John Rush Ridley (1834–1921), who was born in Wellingore, Lincolnshire, England, and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1866.
The handwritten note suggests the knife traveled from England with the Ridley family, but research into the blade tells a slightly different, and perhaps even more interesting, story. The knife bears A.J. Jordan’s “AA1” maker’s mark, which was not registered until 1877, more than a decade after the Ridleys immigrated. Rather than making the original Atlantic crossing with them, the knife appears to have followed the family later, traveling from Sheffield (only about 30 miles from their ancestral home) to their new life in America.
The family first settled in Illinois before moving to Iowa. John Ridley’s son, Charles Edward Ridley, later moved west to Sheridan, Wyoming, where this knife was eventually acquired. It was likely passed through the family to Charles’s daughter, Leta, whose name appears in the surviving family history. The family's story even reaches into World War II: Leta’s son, Major Albert Edwin Miles of the U.S. Army Air Corps, was killed in action after his aircraft was shot down over Belgium.
The knife remains in visibly aged, original condition, with wear, oxidation, patina, and use consistent with its history. The handwritten provenance label remains attached to the handle.
Please note: This is an antique collectible and is being sold for display and historical purposes only. Due to its age, condition, and unknown prior use, it should not be used for food preparation or consumption.
A wonderful piece of 19th-century Sheffield craftsmanship with documented English-American family provenance, an everyday object that survived generations and carried its story with it.
