Pike Disgorging Scissors
Pike Disgorging Scissors
An image of a pair of scissors with blades open. There is a ratchet keeping the blades fixed apart, and the screw head is visible.
Name/Title
Pike Disgorging ScissorsEntry/Object ID
2026.5.5Tags
1800s, fishing, scissors, sheffield, bat shankDescription
A pair of Pike Disgorging Scissors made by J. Gibbins & Sons of Sheffield. Thought to date from around the second half of the 19th century. Designed to help the removal of a hook from a pike while helping to protect a fisherman's fingers from the pike's sharp teeth. From the auctioneer's website: "Rare Pair of 19th Century Pike Disgorger or Unhooking Scissors by J. Gibbins & Sons Knife and Scissors Makers of Sheffield c. 1880. This rare item is in excellent original as found and uncleaned condition and is marked 'J. Gibbins & Sons'. Joseph Gibbins was renowned as one of the best Sheffield scissors makers of the second half of the 19th century." Himsworth (1953) references a similar pair of scissors: "An unusual type of scissors that was produced in the nineteenth century and marked 'F. J. Thomas, Coventry', was made specially for the use of anglers. These scissors were designed to hold open the mouth of a fish while extracting the hook. Rows of serrations along the outer edges of both blades prevented slipping, while a spacer bar kept the blades open at the desired width. The other edges were sharpened in the normal fashion." Images via The Saleroom auction website (link below).Category
Scissors