October 10, 20169 yr I recently accuired a S&H anvil with an 'Eselsrücken' (I don't know the English word for this). Has anybody seen a S&H anvil of this type before? I was told it's pretty rare. It is dated 1903 an the weight is 224kg.
October 10, 20169 yr Welcome aboard Tungsten, glad to have you. If you'll put your general location in the header you might be surprised how many of the Iforge gang live within visiting distance. I don't know how rare a S&H of this pattern is but in general they aren't rare, maybe that large but it's a common pattern. The eselsrucken is the block on the side of the base, yes? We call that an "Upsetting block." Beautiful anvil by the way, congratulations. Frosty The Lucky.
October 11, 20169 yr Welcome to the forum. A direct translation of Eselsrücken means something rather rude according to google translate but I wouldn't be surprised if that were wrong. From the side it looks like a regular South German anvil but it quite clearly isn't. It looks to me like a cross between a South German and a French or Belgian anvil. (having the hardy hole off to one side) I've never seen one like it, though I don't know if S&H made many like it. It's certainly unusual that's for sure. It could easily have been a one off. Andy
October 11, 20169 yr Author 6 hours ago, Frosty said: The eselsrucken is the block on the side of the base, yes? We call that an "Upsetting block." The upsetting block is a nice feature of this anvil, but the 'Eselsrucken' is a german word for arch. If u look carefully, the arch starts just before the round horn. The hardy hole doesn't sit flat. If u mount a tool in the hardy hole, it doesn't point straight up, because the hardy hole is inside this arching of the round horn. I hope I explained it a little bit better now.
October 11, 20169 yr 8 minutes ago, Tungsten said: The upsetting block is a nice feature of this anvil, but the 'Eselsrucken' is a german word for arch. If u look carefully, the arch starts just before the round horn. The hardy hole doesn't sit flat. If u mount a tool in the hardy hole, it doesn't point straight up, because the hardy hole is inside this arching of the round horn. I hope I explained it a little bit better now. Good explanation, I see it now. I've never seen the like, I'm curious. Frosty The Lucky.
October 11, 20169 yr Hi and welcome! Awesome anvil you got there! I don't know much about these anvils but the arch and the position of the hardy hole reminds me of the old anvils sold in French. I'd say this is one of the French patterns - but am not sure. Also the 224K type mark for its weigh is something I've seen on French anvils. Matei Campan likes these French two horns, and I think he will know more... Bests: Gergely
October 11, 20169 yr you know, germans and french have met during the history - here's the result from one encounter. I think that that anvil has the best from each nation tradition. wow, that's one of the most gorgeous anvils I have seen! that's an anvil made probably for the french or belgian market? the anvil manufacturers seemed that they were making not only their "national" patterns, but also patterns for specific areas, traditions. I also saw at least once a french pattern made in Sweden.
October 11, 20169 yr Don't have any pages from S&H catalogs, but several French and English firms made similar anvils. Not only could you choose any style working surface, you could choose between raised "Cricket" legs as seen in France and Italy, or staked Spanish "Catalan" bases, or the flat footed style, with or without upsetting blocks, side shelves, etc.
October 11, 20169 yr It seems the french had the most numerous patterns. that catalog is from just one manufaturer. once I almost bought a very similar anvil (same pattern) but of french origin @ ~300kg for 80euros, condition as new, just some rust on it...
October 11, 20169 yr 8 hours ago, Everything Mac said: A direct translation of Eselsrücken means something rather rude according to google translate but I wouldn't be surprised if that were wrong. Everything Mac, think like a donkey, not the other! 6 hours ago, Tungsten said: The upsetting block is a nice feature of this anvil, but the 'Eselsrucken' is a german word for arch. I did some research, and nothing I could find would indicate that this anvil has anything to do with an arch. The word doesn't translate into arch in english, as far as I can tell. The Arch you can see on the anvil looks to me to be ordinary swale on an anvil. I've never heard of an arch anvil. That being said, I'm ready and willing to be proven wrong, both on the German translation, as well as the terminology for this style of anvil. Regaards, Ridgewayforge
October 11, 20169 yr The first picture of a French anvil was called a "arched collar" face, as opposed to the even transition more commonly seen in the second picture. The arch in the face is quite apparent on both. The raised dome of the horn tapering into the flat body seems to be found only on certain French styles, but any large company anywhere in the world could and did make many patterns available. Fisher's export only "Insonora" pattern, for instance.
October 11, 20169 yr Yup as John points out the face isn't swayed but made that way deliberately. As I said in my initial post it seems like a cross between German and French designs. One could easily be forgiven thinking it was a French anvil if it wasn't clearly marked S&H and had the upsetting block. Andy
October 11, 20169 yr that convexity over the face is very handy. I have two french anvils which have the same feature, a little cavalry portable one with exactly the same geometry as the S&H, and another one with less convexity but still present. once you are used to that features, you miss them on other anvils.
October 12, 20169 yr Funny how things work some times. I came across this blog today. - http://3kgsousterre.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/couteaux finis French Vietnamese I'm told. Their main anvil looks to be a cross between French and German designs. Notice the hardy and pritchpl holes are set to one side of the face. As well as the shelf and upsetting block. Andy
October 13, 20169 yr Ah! I mistook which plane the arch was in- I thought it was tail to horn; now I see that the arch is perpendicular to the face. That seems like a nifty anvil to have. I'd love to get me hands on one of them!
October 13, 20169 yr it couldn't be too hard from Italy. for the money you pay for an anvil in Italy, you could buy a French one like that and get shipped to you. for example this is for sale from two days ago: https://www.leboncoin.fr/outillage_materiaux_2nd_oeuvre/1032505309.htm?ca=12_s
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