Kirk & Matz LTD

Kirk & Matz was an American cutlery importer with Sheffield links. The business can be traced to Herman Victor Matz (1913-1970), who had been born at Staten Island, New York. His wife, Ruth Kaethe Wirsing (1917-2013), came to America from Dresden, Germany, before the War. In 1940, they were living in New York, where Herman was an export clerk at an asbestos company and Ruth was a secretary at a cutlery concern. In the early 1950s, Herman operated the Peerless Tool Company in New York. He also developed links with Sheffield, especially with Frederick Arthur Kirk. The latter owned F. A. Kirk. Herman Matz moved to Danbury, Connecticut, and in 1962 Kirk’s Ltd was established with a Danbury address. Matz imported Sheffield cutlery from Kirk – an arrangement that was formalized in 1967, when the name of Kirk’s Ltd was changed to Kirk & Matz Ltd. Herman Matz was a director, alongside Frederick Arthur Kirk and his son, Anthony Kirk. Kirk & Matz sold fancy giftware (using the mark, SILVER GUILD) and cutlery, often etched with a lion and shield. Boxed sets of stainless cutlery – especially stag-handled carving sets, with a carving knife, fork, and sharpening steel – were a specialty. Unfortunately, Herman died at Birmingham from a heart attack on 27 November 1970, whilst on a business trip to England. He was aged 57. He was buried at Mountain View Cemetery, New Fairfield, Connecticut. However, his business interests were continued by his widow and son, Victor Herman Matz (born 1943). In the 1960s, the business relationship with the Kirks was maintained. The latter had relocated to Toledo Works, Hollis Croft, where they operated as Kirkanson of Sheffield Ltd. The office address at Danbury, Connecticut, was also Toledo Works. It is not known when the link between the Matz family and the Kirks was broken, but Kirkanson (which had moved to Garden Street) was sold in 1993. Kirk & Matz Ltd currently trade from an office in Denver, North Carolina. The organization primarily markets trophies and plaques.