Antique, 1860s, Victorian Silver Sliding Propelling Pencil.

Antique, 1860s, Victorian Silver Sliding Propelling Pencil.

England 1860s

Size: open 13 cm - closed 7 cm

Weight 20 gr.

Every good, middle or upper class Victorian gentleman worth his salt would have owned one. A small silver propelling pencil, perhaps attached to an Albert chain with a fob watch on the other end and stored in a waistcoat pocket, or kept with a notebook for a day’s important jottings. These retractable, sliding pencils were not inexpensive, and as such were bought or received as prestigious gifts and kept for a lifetime. They were made in enormous variety, with the size, shape, materials and level of decoration being a display of both your wealth and tastes.

As with many important inventions, the name of the real brain behind it is not the one that is most widely known. In this case, the real inventor was an engineer called John Isaac Hawkins. An interesting and innovative man who shared his life between the US and UK, Hawkins was also responsible for developing a polygraph and an upright piano, as well as conjuring up the name ‘bi-focals’. Hawkins had seen that most pencils were made from a long lead bound in wax and rope or fabric, or cased in wood or metal. As they were used, they needed to be sharpened, requiring extra tools. Surely the lead could be placed in a mechanism allowing it to be telescoped out on a spiral as it wore down through use? This would also then allow all manner of elaborate cases to be developed, widening the market for his invention. So, in 1822, the twist-screw mechanism behind most propelling pencils was developed. Precisely what Mordan had to do with this is, I believe, as yet unknown, although he is credited as co-inventor despite apparently having had little experience of inventing or engineering himself. However, Mordan had studied under another inventor, Joseph Bramah, who also had a hand in developing writing instruments, so perhaps he met Hawkins and grew his knowledge this way.