In England, May 7th, 1802, Sir Edward Thomason was granted
a patent, no 2,617 for a quite ingenious corkscrew. The
mechanism incorporated both male & female threads & by
simply continually turning the handle clockwise -  the worm was
inserted into the cork & in no time extracted - lovely job.  

There are 16 different Thomason corkscrew designs known
including some very rare & desirable variations.

Sir Edward Thomason was totally confident that his invention
was a winner, so much so that each patent badge applied to
the corkscrews his factory produced carried both "Thomason
Patent" & his new found motto "NE PLUS ULTRA" meaning "no
more beyond". He was clearly saying he had invented the
ultimate corkscrew & 200 years later who is to say he was
wrong? It is indeed a remarkable invention that works
incredibly well & competes very favourably with the vast
majority of corkscrews that proceeded his patent.

The two examples shown to the left are Thomason II & are the
easiest to find. The picture showing one with the mechanism
out & fully extended.
Thomason II with cut aways,
commonly known as a
Thomason 3 1/2 windows.
 Thomason XV. Brass barrel
with four equal cut-out
windows.
 Thomason IX. Compound
Patent. Marked on the collar
"EDWARD THOMASON'S
PATENT NE PLUS ULTRA".
 Thomason VIII. Fruiting
vines with autumnal fruit &
leaves.
According to Sir Edward Thomason's
memoirs, he manufactured 130000
corkscrews in the fourteen years of the
patent. After which, a number of other
companies such as James Heeley &
Sons; Thomas & George Dowler; Robert
Jones & Sons & Cope & Cutler to name a
few, continued to produce this marvelous
& very popular design throughout the
19th century. It's clear that the corkscrew
that was primarily manufactured by these
companies was the standard Thomason II.

Due to the mass production, Thomason II
corkscrews are not rare. However, any
collector looking to find a good example
will have to search hard as wear & tear
with dents to the barrel, chips to the
handles, faulty mechanisms & broken
worms are quite commonplace in many
examples that are found for sale in the
marketplace today.

I always have lovely examples of
Thomason II for sale - drop me a line if
you're looking for one for your collection.
Peter@corkscrewsonline.com
I've enjoyed compiling this corkscrew guide, I hope it can be of
assistance to you. If you'd like to get in touch it would be great to hear
from you.
Peter@corkscrewsonline.com
Antique & Vintage Corkscrew Guide
~ Thomason Corkscrews ~
Thomason III. Commonly known as a
Thomason variant. Two versions are
known with a T or oval top handle.
 Thomason V. Serpant variant,
a very rare & highly desirable
corkscrew. You can see that
this once was silver plated,
sadly mostly lost over time &
use.
Badges found on different Thomason type corkscrews.
Many of these Thomason badge pictures are courtesy of fellow collector Nick Hunt, many thanks.
HUNGRY FOR MORE KNOWLEDGE?

To find out more about the 16 variants of Thomason corkscrew
I'd highly recommend you purchase a copy of Fletcher Wallis'
comprehensive & definitive book, "British Corkscrew Patents
from 1795".

Send me an email if you would like a signed copy
Peter@corkscrewsonline.com
TOP PRICES
ALWAYS PAID FOR
OLD CORKSCREWS

Forget trying to luck out on an internet
auction site & end up being disappointed.

For a top return, send a picture of your
corkscrew to:
Peter@corkscrewsonline.com