This
is the only one of my collection that is an actual tool. What I have is a pair
of Dancing Leg Calipers, a tool shaped as a Pair of female legs.
For those who are not conversant with this engineering tool, (and we are not talking about Leg calipers as used for treatment of those suffering from paralysis of muscles and muscle groups of the knee, etc) Calipers are used by machinists, engineers etc, to check measurements.
An engineer would use this tool to measure the inside or
the outside diameter of for example a
tube. Swinging the 2 legs so that the toes touch opposite sides of the outside
of the item to be measured the caliper is then held firmly, and the measurement
read off from a ruler. If the inside diameter of the item is required, then the
caliper would be rotated 180 degrees, placed inside the tube with the toes
pointing outwards.
This shows the calipers measuring the outside diameter of a pound coin.
This is the caliper rotated so that it can measure the internal diameter of a small plastic dish.
The fact that this leg is number 11 in my collection shows that it was bought very early in my collecting career, at the NEC in July 2010. The caliper would have been made as a working tool and then personalised the leg silhouette. This one was made in the USA where the name Dancing Lady Calipers originated.
Dancing Lady calipers originated in the 1700’s and were
made by machinists to use in their work and made in whatever style they wished.
Some calipers are known to be more raunchy than others!! With each individual creating it to their own
taste, each one would be virtually unique. When I bought this pair, the
stallholder had 2 different pairs for sale and I bought this more interesting
pair, for £35. Checking the internet Dancing Ladies are only found on USA
websites. USA Sales in 2021 were noted for $65 and $104, which suggests my £35
was a good price.
Most USA calipers lack the interesting work and information
that I have on mine. For a start, apart from the individual outline shape, mine
has considerable tooling work, the boots
outline, buttonholes, and garters! There
are bold initials F. W. H. presumably the owner/maker. But it also has a very
small almost obscure engraving, S.Starrett, and I.Mass USA, presumably
referring to the Isle of Massachusetts.
An interesting and rare leg to find in the UK
I expect those of you who have read my 8 posts so far,
will have realised that many of the legs I have collected have links to
smoking, indeed I have 46 pipe tampers alone. I also have lighters, pipe
reamers, vesta holders (for matches), actual pipes and this week I am including
cheroot cutters. A cheroot cutter is a smaller version of a cigar cutter and is
used for cutting off the blunt end tip of a small cigar to inhale the smoke.
They are quite neat and compact, and fit well in a waistcoat pocket or on a
chain.
The right one I bought at a Stafford antique Fair in
2017. Silvery coloured it has no hallmarks and has to be described as steel or
white metal. The mechanism is akin to a guillotine, depressed to clip off the
cheroot tip. The cutter has very small letters stamped on the end of the 2cm
wide guillotine, looking like PAI, but it could be PAT. It also has an internal
catch to hold it closed.
The other is slightly larger, Bakelite and coincidentally bought only a
week later at a fair at Nottingham racecourse. The mechanism is different from
the first cutter in that a V-shaped wedge is depressed to cut a v-chunk out of
the cheroot. It has a ring to hang the device on a chatelaine or similar.
So, a bit of variety for this week. I bought 2 legs, sadly not antiques at an Antique Centre in Bolsover (home of the infamous "Beast of...") They will feature in due course.
I have high hopes for a quality antique fair before my next post is due, so cross your fingers for me.
David
No comments:
Post a Comment