M Hunter & Son 12" Offset Oatcake / Havercake Knife Sheffield 1850s-80s

M. Hunter & Son was a long-established Sheffield cutlery and silver manufacturer with origins dating to c. 1780, when Michael Hunter II entered the trade as both merchant and maker. Emerging from early partnerships such as Hunter & Twigg, the firm developed from a hardware supply and plating business into a producer of silver cutlery and table knives, operating from locations including Cheney Square, Bailey Field, and Burgess Street. Early trademarks such as “WATCH HUMBLE” and later the Bugle mark was registered by the family in the late 18th century which reflects the firm’s deep roots in Sheffield’s early silver and cutlery trades.

Through the early 19th century, the business expanded under successive generations of the Hunter family, particularly Michael Hunter III, and became known for both production and innovation. Notably, M. Hunter was among the first Sheffield makers to adopt the American-style tilt hammer in knife manufacture. This mechanized forging process—known as “goffing”—allowed the firm to increase production efficiency while reducing reliance on traditional hand forging, placing it at the forefront of early industrial methods within the cutlery trade.

Operating within Sheffield’s dense network of makers, merchants, and grinders, M. Hunter & Son bridged the transition from craft-based production to industrialized manufacturing. Active broadly from the late 18th century through the mid-to-late 19th century (with the M. Hunter & Son name prominent c. 1852–1890s), the firm represents a multi-generational lineage of cutlers whose work reflects both traditional craftsmanship and the early mechanization of knife production in Sheffield.