As my Blog heads towards it’s final post, this is the penultimate No 42 but it does have some variety!
But first let me tell you about an interesting TV item this
week. Birding friend Chris sent me an
urgent text to tell me that a leg shaped corkscrew was going under the hammer
on Flog it. I dashed for the TV and
found the programme in time to watch the final auction stage.
I had not seen the valuation, but I suspect it was around
£30/£40, and I noticed a reserve of £20.
I recognised the type of bottle opener, and knew that the valuation was
ridiculous, which as I said to Mary, should be nearer the £100 mark.
I have a number of corkscrews but not like the one in
question which is German, and depicts a
decorative leg with a multi striped stocking. They are made of steel to a high
standard, and available in a variety of colours and patterns. Many years ago I saw a similar set of 3 on
sale at the NEC for £750… that’s the sort of quality and rarity we are talking
about. Google comes up with a selection of similarly
high priced stockings!! By the way the corkscrew went for £150, and included a
bid of £100 from Australia.
So to what as I said may be my penultimate post. I have five
penknives in my collection, and last year I covered two which were promotional
pocket knives, knives which were given away to promote products, and in my case
alcohol related!! This left these 3
normal antique pocket knives.
Starting on the left, this is a very small single blade penknife
made of ivory with a very worn blade. It
is stamped with the name Thomas Turner and that is the only marking. Said to date from 1850, I bought it in 2012 at
my regular visited antique fair in the NEC.
Thomas Turner was a well known Sheffield maker of penknives,
sometimes for customers to use as promotional
give-aways. And that is all I know.
The black knife on the right is identical, both shape and
assembly and also with a worn blade. It
is unclear why it has some sort of black covering, nor what the coating is, but
it is quite worn in places. Certainly it has to be c1850 again.
The middle knife is almost identical to the first two, the
only differences is that it is about 20% larger than the first two and the carved
shoe is more visible. Again a well worn blade. However, this one has the
engraving “L.B Sheffield” Not really enough to id to give any more information.
When we stayed at Exmouth last November we visited one of
our regular and favourite antique fairs at Exeter, and I bought this steel bottle
opener
This is another example of a promotional free-bee with good engraving of the shoe outline and flowers. There is patent date, March 12th 1912 which confirms it is an antique. This is a nice tool to use.
On the promotional side is the product “Frontenac Export
Ale”. Searching the net I found a beer bottle cap with the same name, on e-bay
for £21.79 !! It is from a Canadian Brewing Co.
Surprisingly E-Bay has also sold exactly the same bottle opener!!
Finally for this post, another antique bought at Exeter last
November. Being long and thin it does not photograph very well. It is a Brass shoe horn with a nice holding
ring. It could in fact be bronze as it
lacks the gloss of brass. I have a pair
of brass shoe-horns that I bought a few years ago at Newark and were said to be
“his” and “hers” but this one is much better and nice and sturdy.
So that’s it for February 2023. As I said there will be one more, probably the last of my Pipe Tamper collection, unless I can add any new legs to my collection before that time.
David
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