No 36. Another six of the best...Bone this time

I think a combination of 2 weeks in Majorca followed by a Covid hit, and then 2/3 weeks to get over (most of-) the Covid has meant that my Leg blog has fallen a bit behind the intended once every 2/3 weeks.

The last one in June, number 35, covered my remaining 5 examples or part-examples of Knitting Needle guards and this time I am back yet again to Pipe Tampers. You may recall that I have 49 tampers in my collection, (30% of the 162 total collection,) and with 31 already discussed, this time I am discussing 6 more of these legs, these all  (?) being made of bone.

There has to be a lot of trust in the information that I gather when I am buying legs especially those  created and made by artisans as opposed to legs that have been manufactured by machine. Unlike even a stick of rock, there is little identification what material carved legs are made of. Ivory of itself is usually quite clearly identifiable, but no ivory or bones have any thread or marks that could give a clue to age, or the type of bone. So, when I am able to name the animal bone, it can only be because that is what I have been told!!

Many antiques are dated by reference to styles, the experts knowing that certain aspects were only used in the manufacture at certain periods in time.  It will seldom be possible to categorise a piece of bone.

 

Before I wrote this post, I had a furtle around e-bay and whilst I found a few pipe tampers, none were made of Bone. Mainly they were Brass or lead, costing £68 on average and also a Meissen porcelain one for £914!!

 

So, to my six bone legs.

This is the group I am writing about.

1. In the order that I purchased them, the top left leg was No 8 in my collection, bought in 2010 at the NEC. Whilst it is in my records as bone, I believe it is in fact Ivory, as there are no flecks in the bone;  it also has an un-hallmarked silver cap.  There is no added creative carving here, just nice shaping. Dated c1820.

2. This next one I also bought at the NEC and in the same year, and as you can see by the next photo, it has a considerable amount of carving. The top simulates an elaborate garter and you can see the deep cross-hatching on the end. C 1830.

The surface flecks indicate bone, and the lovely little 5 toes indicate a right foot.

3.The next leg, top row on the right, is clearly made of bone with addition of ebony.

A lot of decorative work has been added. The ebony garter, the ebony cross-hatched top, and what appears to be 2 buttons on each side of the leg top, again in ebony.

A short shoe has been carved, with lace holes and a small heel the end result being a very smart c1850 leg with a lot of detail.

 

4.This one is said to be c1870 and for a change bought at Kedleston Fair instead of the NEC.

Even in the photo the flecks are quite clear as indicative of bone, but the shape is unusual. The L shape makes it ideal for tamping, but I must assume that the original bone was quite large so that the amount of bone needed to created the L, can be cut out. Nice decorative work to form the shoe and unexplained reason for the elaborate patterns around the knee!! (If someone said it was a Gavel I could believe it!!)

 

5. Number five, bottom on the left, is simple, with just a small line to simulate a shoe. No heel depth suggests a man’s shoe. It is a petite tamper, no hatching but the right size to fit in a lady’s bag. I have no age information.

 

6.The last leg in the middle at the bottom, has all the indications of being well worn and old and was said to be made c1800 and made by Prisoners of War in the Napoleonic wards. That's 1803 > 1815 so that’s 220 years old….and it looks like it!!  Again cross-hatched but worn down, and with a knee garter with a bow and a nice small shoe.

So, to recap 6 tampers, all antiques – between 150 and 200 years old.