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MIRABILIA - the epitome of Italian vintage razoring

Northstonehill

Northstonehill

Well-Known Member
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Super happy about reeling in this Italian 1930s Mirabilia solid comb razor. The Mirabilia is one of the most sought after Italian vintages by the European razor cognoscenti and they only rarely pop up for sale.

This 3-piece art deco beauty arrived yesterday from Nothern Italy as part of a pack sale with 4 other razors. It is nickel plated brass, measures just under 11 cm from head to toe and weighs in at respectable 73 grams.

Wonderful art deco style, great balance and seemingly almost no blade gap when all tightened up. After a solid clean-up and Flitz treatment the condition is very good, super great shine and only a couple of brassed spots to the topcap and baseplate.

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The MIRABILIA history
A very knowledgable Italian razor friend kindly provided me with the following wonderful information and photos on the background of the Mirabilia razor.

The Mirabilias were produced by a company named I.T.A.L.I.A. (better known as LAMA ITALIA) based in the Piemonte region and founded in 1926. The acronym I.T.A.L.I.A. stood for Industria Torinese Articoli Laminati In Acciaio (Industry in Turin for Steel Laminate Articles (goods)). The company was probably the most well-known Italian blades manufacturer of the period.

Even if ITALIA was just an acronym they always used a strong patriotic spirit in their advertising. It is probably easy to understand why as this was the 1920-30s where fascism was prevalent and the regime stressed autarchy and strong nationalism.

As far as is known today the Mirabilia solid bar model was made in nickel plated brass and it also came in an open comb version with a different handle. On top the company even made a bakelite model called the B3.

The most plausible date for the beginning of the production of the closed comb razor was 1933 and the razor came in a cardboard shipper which is extremely rare to find today. Only a few examples are known to exist of the case, one of which is part of a museum collection in Milan.

My friend also supplied me with these wonderful photos to show the fascinating shaving brand.

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The shave?
Inaugural shave up tomorrow here at the Nortstonehill headquarters: I have planned a truly international shave as this Italian beauty will be joined by my lovely new Simpsons Duke 3 synthetic bristle, menthol-spiked MWF and a fresh Israeli Personna blade :)
 
Great score Peter. :daumenhoch

Looks very similar to the Darwin. It would be interesting to see if the bakelite B3 looks similar to the Walbusch B3.

Now get back to finding a Liebel for us! :kommnurher1
 
Well now. That turned out to be quite a fabulous specimen Peter! Absolutely gorgeous.
I very much like how the inside of the cap is a smooth curve, whereas the outside is rather angular. Nice touch.
 
Beautiful razor to look at and a combination of the shaving head similar to a Darwin and a grip that reminds me of the graceful style that the Krect also has.

Pure beauty.
 
Mirabilia also made a copy of the Walbusch B3. It came in a larger shipper with four packs of blades, a styptic pen and a bag of talcpowder. Unfortunately my styptic pen is broken.
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