No 35. Legs .....on Guard!!

Bit of a gap since Post No 34, but 2 weeks abroad and a week with Covid has influenced my diligent writing!  But I’m with it now, and albeit the number of my unreviewed legs are getting less and less this time I am still covering FIVE of the outstanding items in the collection. It will become clear, but these all have common factors, and for a change they are not Pipe Tampers!

This time, I’m dealing with those of my Knitting Needle Guards (KNG) that I have not already covered.   I have ten in total, and these are the five not included in the first 34 posts.

This is a photograph of the group, and you will see that three of them are complete guards, but two are from two incomplete sets.

The first one is one of the oldest guards, 19^th century, and bought in 2014 at the NEC. Some guards are very simple and basic, but by making the end in the shape of a boot sometimes with a leg, they become more interesting.

 

Tip Guards as they were originally called were first known in 1791 in Holland, and early ones were made from beads.

This one is in the style of a short Hunters Boot, with a red “jewel” on the front, and the connecting chain has a connector in the middle, to help the chain fit tightly holding a knitting needle. It is very likely silver, but there are no visible hallmarks.

 

 

Next is a smart pair of boots, well floral decorated and said to be Dutch silver. This one was bought at an NEC fair, and a gift from my wife to add to the collection.  

 

The third complete guard was bought at a Stafford fair in 2014, but is in very poor condition. One of the hunter boots is broken, and the metal (silver?) being so thin they have been damaged by being squeezed. I doubt whether they would justify the cost of repair

The decoration is quite good, and the chain is longer than the other two.

 

We now come to 2 single boots

 

The first boot is Ivory and was bought at Buxton in 2012. At the time I was unsure what it was, as Needle guards were unknown to me. But it was a nice right leg said to be early 19th century. It does have a small hole at the back at the top of the boot, which could well be part of connecting a pair of these boots. It is the right size to insert a needle.

 

The second leg was relatively cheap, again bought at a Stafford Fair, and very likely silver. It is modelled on a Hunters Boot, and the star indicates it as a right leg with a high heel for a lady.

There are many varieties according to the internet, but needle guards - leg versions,  are seldom seen at fairs.