Help ID this C&E brush

[ShaveYourSoul]

Good evening! I recently picked up this NOS C&E brush from etsy. It came in a plastic box that said "made in Italy." The handle looks to be made out of natural horn. Does anyone know anything about this brush? Vintage? How can I tell if it is indeed natural horn? Thanks!


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[mblakele]

Are there many Italian brushmakers? I can only think of Omega and Boreal. Crabtree & Evelyn definitely had some boar brushes made by Boreal, but I do not know if Boreal ever made badger brushes. Or depending on the rules it might have been something like a Mühle knot and an Italian handle, assembled in Italy.

Do you still have the box? Post a picture of it if you can. The Boreal boxes were fairly distinctive, and so are the Omega boxes.

 

[ShaveYourSoul]

Will do, it's kind of broken up but not horribly bad. It's a clear plastic clam shell type with a built in stand on the inside.

 

[Occams_Razor]

Damn, that is a huuuuge brush! Sorry I don't have more insight to add.

 

[ShaveYourSoul]

Damn, that is a huuuuge brush! Sorry I don't have more insight to add.

A little (okay a lot) too huge unfortunately. I face lather and I don't think this thing was made for it

 

[syngent]

Was that picture taken before or after your first time out with it ?, it looks really bloomed for a NOS brush out of a package

But it is stunning to say the least, I love the horn handle

 

[ShaveYourSoul]

This was taken after I gave it a bath. I should have taken pre pics, but just forgot. Here's pics of the case:

 

[mblakele]

That box does not look like the Omega or Boreal designs I am familiar with. C&E may have contracted with a small shop in Italy for these. If so my guess is that the knot actually came from Mühle: back in 2005 they reported making over 1.5M brushes: http://wiki.badgerandblade.com/Muhle, so they seem like an obvious choice for OEM knots. Or depending on the timeframe the knot might be from China. I suspect C&E could still label it "Made in Italy" as long as the assembly and some portion of the parts were Italian.

I found http://www.etsy.com/listing/110460988/unused-vintage-crabtree-evelyn-natural also by C&E, but in a different box, boar knot, and "Made in Germany". It seems even more likely to be a Mühle, at least to my eye: the metal ring, the lines of the handle.

 

[ShaveYourSoul]

Thanks for the help. I've been trying to do some image searches to see if anything else like it is out there. Out of luck so far