A lovely pair of Arthur E Dexter & Co carving knife and fork circa 1914. The knife has the maker's mark and 'Firth Brearley'.
The discovery of stainless steel was the creation of Harry Brearley. In 1913, Harry was working on a project to prevent rifle barrels from corroding. His analysis of the rifle barrels involved having to dissolve them in acid but, by chance, he noticed that steel which had a high chromium content did not dissolve.
He experimented with varying proportions of chromium and finally produced a stainless steel with 12.8% chromium. He moved to Thos. Firth & Sons in 1914 and began commercial production of stainless steel cutlery.
The mark on the fork is very small and in the process of being identified.
Both knife and fork have a horn appearance handle.
Size of knife: 36cm long
Size of fork: 26cm long