Antique Ink Scraper. J. Rodgers & Sons. Royal cutlers. King George V

Description

Antique Scapel. J. Rodgers & Sons. Royal cutlers. King George V
This Joseph Rodgers ink eraser has an unambiguous GR stamp. The handle is made of vulcanized rubber, a material that didn’t come into use until the 1870’s, and it is also stamped England, which wasn’t used until 1890, when the McKinley tariff ((a broad, complicated, impressively protectionist American Law that was not as universally applied as you might think)) went into effect and mandated that all items made for international sale would bear their country of origin.
The item is an ink eraser, used for scraping the ink off the page. They’re often mislabeled as scalpels or lancets. This one, however, uses a monarch stamp.
Essentially these stamps are just a picture of a crown with two letters to designate which monarch: G. R. for George Rex (Rex being Latin for king)