This knife was likely to have been marketed by the east London branch of the renowned Sheffield tool-making family, the Tyzacks.

In 1839, Henry Tyzack (1809-1876), a saw maker, had moved from Sheffield to Shoreditch, London, where he opened a small shop.  In 1860, Henry’s son, Samuel (1833-1903), leased a nearby property at Old Street. His edge tool works and retail shop employed five men in 1871 and eight men a decade later. Samuel died at Darenth Road, Stamford Hill, on 12 August 1903. He left £8,410.

His son, Edgar, inherited the business, which became S. Tyzack & Son in 1905. In 1927, he registered it as a private limited company, with £20,000 capital. Trade catalogues showed a variety of tools and machines for woodworkers and metal workers. Mostly these were factored from Sheffield or Birmingham. Tyzack also marketed a selection of Sheffield cutlery:  scissors, pen knives, carving sets, table knives, spoons, forks, and canteens. S. Tyzack & Son was managed successfully by Edgar until his retirement. He died at Bournemouth on 8 November 1959. He left £110,496 and a widow, Bertie May Tyzack.  The firm continued in family hands until it and its subsidiaries (Parrys and Ross & Alexander) were wound up in 1989. The trade mark ‘ZYTO’ was sometimes used on Tyzack’s products.