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Vintage Kent: silvertip?

I came across this nice old Kent butterscotch the other day. What caught my eye (besides butterscotch, of course) was the condition of the knot. In my experience it isn't common to find an older brush with the knot in excellent, or even usable, condition. but as you can see, this one is in top notch condition. It's a 22mm knot set at a loft of 47mm. Unfortunately, the seller of this had it "displayed" on one of those old jar/stands with the nasty spring steel clips. I'm assuming that the deep scratches on the handle are from being forced in and out of this clip; though I paid more than I would have liked, I considered it a "rescue" for this fine old brush. At least that's what I told my wife.

It is marked T17, Pure Badger, Made in England. I have seen a listing for this brush in a Kent catalog from circa late 1930s, but I'm not sure how long it was offered by Kent so I don't really know how old it is.

My curiosity is about the type or grade of badger. My understanding is that Kent labeled all their badger knots as simply "pure badger", without any further identifiers or distinctions regarding grade. This knot has very soft tips, and while it isn't super dense, it has at least decent backbone. To me, this looks (and feels) like silvertip, at least based on the ones I'm familiar with. What do you guys think?


IMG_9065.JPG
 

Rudy Vey

Shaving baby skin and turkey necks
It is silvertip. Several makers, most Germans and in other countries marked all their badger brushes "Pure Badger", or Reindachs in German or Pur Blaireau in French. This was not depending on any grade, but to show it is badger hair only.
 
It is silvertip. Several makers, most Germans and in other countries marked all their badger brushes "Pure Badger", or Reindachs in German or Pur Blaireau in French. This was not depending on any grade, but to show it is badger hair only.
That is great information. Thanks very much for your very knowledgeable response.

BTW, I used the old Kent this morning and it was great. A really nice performer, with plenty of miles left on her.
 
Looks like what used to be called "blond badger," by Rooney, I think? Might be nicotine stained, might be the lighting.

I agree with everyone else, definitely silvertip. You can email Kent for more information, if it's available. They lost a lot of records during WWII, so don't expect a whole lot.
 

linty1

My wallet cries.
I arrived at a similar conclusion a while ago:


tldr; it's a silvertip.
 
Rudy has it. Also, after enough time handling brushes and seeing them enough in person and online, you'll be able to spot it right away. 3-band Silvertip.
 
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