Cutlers' Hall, City of London, UK - Frieze Art on Waymarking.com

The Cutlers' Hall is the home of the Worshipful Company of Cutlers. A meeting place of cutlers is known to have existed in the City since 1285. The present hall in Warwick is the fifth location and came into use on March 7th 1888.

The following information about the frieze is taken from notice displayed outside the hall (photo attached).

In total there are thirty-three figures in the frieze depicting the four main facets of the cutlers' craft, forging, grinding, hafting and finishing. The first panel depicts the forgers at work and the figure on the far left can be seen plunging a pair of hot sicisors into the hardening trough. The next is forging scissors and to his right is a man at the bellows, heating the iron and hardening table knives. The fourth and fifth figures are the maker or 'smith' and the 'striker' forging table knives, and approaching them is a man bringing a bundle of steel into the smithy.

The next panel illustrates the grinding process. First we see a man taking away a box of finished knife blades from the grinding wheel whilst an old man sits polishing or 'buffing' the next batch. The boy to his right is glazing the blades and holding them up to see if the stone marks have all been removed. Then we see two men, one hewing the grindstone and the other grinding. The next man is setting bades prior to putting them on the grindstone and another is remonstrating with him, possibly over the non-payment of his 'natty' or trade union contribution. To their right we see a young man approaching the grinding wheel with a box full of new owrk, followed by two older men carrying a large grindstone.

The third panel portrays the hafters perparing knife handles and fitting them to the blades. The first man is standing by his workbench filing a handle. The next man is filing handles with compound prior to attaching them to the blades. A young boy, who has brought his father's dinner, stands beside him watching intently what is going on. Next is a figure seated at the glazing frame polishing a knife handle or 'dollying' as cutlers would have called it. After him there is a man filing a handle at his workbench. To his right stands a man who appears to be giving words of advice to an apprentice engaged in drilling holes in the handles. A second youth can be seen scraping or 'schaving' knife handles with a piece of flat steel. Next to him a man is riveting handles, whilst his neighbour is wiping off the finished work and holding it up to the light to see if it is true.

The fourth and final panel begins with an old man lotting scissors at his bench. Then we see the scissors hardener reaching for some tongs and blowing the bellows with the other hand. Standing next to him is a littel boy poking the fire. Alongside him is a man boring the scissors and turning the lathe with his feet. Standing to his right is a man glazing the scissors, and next to him is the scissor filer. The last figure is finishing off the scissors and testing that they are in working order before they leave the workshop.

There is plenty more information available on The Worshipful Company of Cutlers Website