Late 19th and early 20th century sterling silver propelling and other pencils

Graphite was discovered and came into widespread use for writing following the discovery of a large deposit in Borrowdale, England in 1564. It made a darker line than lead, but was soft and brittle, and required a holder.

The graphite sticks were firstly wrapped in string, but later the graphite was inserted into hollowed wooden sticks the resultant pencil being similar to those in use today.

Britain soon lost its monopoly on production of wooden pencils and they were mass-produced in Germany from the 15th century. In the mid 16th century a number of German pencil manucturers were established whose trade names are still in use today, including Faber-Castell, Steadtler and Lyra.

In 1822, Sampson Mordan (1770 - 1843) with his partner, John Hawkins patented a "metal pencil with an internal mechanism for propelling the graphite 'lead' shaft forward during use", now known as the propelling pencil.

This meant more... that the casing could now be metal, most commonly gold or silver, which had appeal to the increasingly affluent middle and upper classes in Britain in the 19th century.

Various whimsical patterns were introduced for their propelling pencils including pig and boar-shaped pencils, and horse heads, dogs, cats, fish, frogs and owls.

In Britain between 1820 and 1873, more than 160 patents were filed by the company for various mechanical pencil designs. The first spring-loaded mechanical pencil was patented in 1877 and a twist-feed mechanism was developed in 1895.

Some mechanical pencils only hold the graphite in position against gravity, while others are able to feed the lead through the pencil, as it wears down.

There are various mechanisms used to feed the lead through the pencil, including ratchet-based pencils in which the lead is advanced by a button on the end or the side; screw-based pencils in which the lead is advanced by twisting a screw, which moves a slider down the barrel and twist-based pencils in which the lead is advanced by twisting the head of the pencil.

Mechanical pencils are still in demand today by architects, draughtsmen and artists. less...