No 23. A good day at the West Point Antique Fair

This week I have a trio of very different legs. Two of the items came from the Exeter Fair and the third is included as a comparative. 

At the West Point antique fair earlier this month, I spotted 4 legs (5 actually).  The first was a large piece of brass Trenchart in the shape of a shoehorn. We examined it but decided the end result was not good enough for my collection, probably because the piece of metal was misshaped and my existing shoehorns are better made.

The second leg was a clean solid brass bottle opener, but already having one exactly the same, I declined. You will see mine in due course.

The 3^rd and 4^th legs were on a stall run by a lady I have patronised before and buying both items enabled me to get a better discount.

The first one I purchased (no 159) is a well engraved pipe tamper in bronze. In the shape of a Hunters Boot and just 2.5 inches it is well hatched and the carvings are very deep.

 

                                                       

The other purchase was a pair of small ceramic legs no higher than the knee and each about 1 inch high.

 

As can be seen from the above picture, the leg is whitish and each has a red/brown shoe. The shoe has a heel, and the raised top of the shoe is meant to simulate a bow. Round the leg tops are shallow grooves. The top of each leg has a small hole, of different depth and diameter.

                                               

So, what are they?  The stall holder thought they were legs from a toy doll, and I do have piece of porcelain, which is 2 adjoined legs, but that has holes in the side to thread a connecting cord. This pair has holes, but they are in the top and cannot be used for a connection. With all the information and we have decided they are in fact a pair of Knitting Needle Guards (KNG).  The needles would be inserted in the top holes and a piece of string (or equivalent) could be stretched between the two legs and tied in the grooves.  (A picture below of silver KNG’s shows how the end result would look.)

This was a good addition for £6, and we think another  customer at the stall, who collected KNG missed out!!

It seemed appropriate to show you another pair of KNG. Readers may recall in May in Post No7, I wrote about my most expensive KNG and also a set of guards in the shape of Pigs trotters! Coincidentally my Exeter stall holder also had a pair, so they are not that rare!!

This silver example is well styled and was bought in 2018 at a Stafford fair.

 

                     

It can be seen that the silver legs are designed as hunters’ boots, each linked together by a thin chain. They are antiques, probably c1880. They were described as Continental silver, but there are no markings anywhere on the KNG’s.

The chain is intact with no connecting link so the needles would need too be of a length so that the guards fitted snugly.

 

                                         

My collection appears to be getting back into gear with Antique Fairs starting up again. The classic NEC fair this weekend will hopefully add to the collection.   Fingers crossed!