I have a similar item, without the fancy brass decoration, made out of ivory. It has three prongs, all wider at the base than the ones on this item, and folding out of one end rather than two. The prongs are very flat and thin, and don't look very strong. However it looks the same functionally as the item currently on ebay.
I too thought it might be an awl-like tool for making even picots, but there are no graduations on the prongs, and all three are pointed and exactly the same size. I took it to Sotheby's when I was in London, and the gentleman there told me it was a 19th century toothpick! I honestly didn't believe him (altho too polite to say so to his face, of course). However, a very similar one, made out of tortoise-shell, was posted on ebay several weeks ago by a knowledgeable dealer (elegant.arts I think) and identified as a gentleman's toothpick, ca 1880. So there we are. Believe it or not (literally--I'm still not sure that I do!). --Nancy Connecticut, USA On Wed, Mar 31, 2010 at 12:59 AM, Jean Nathan <[email protected] > wrote: > Anyone got any ideas on what this is? > > http://tinyurl.com/yju5sb9 > > or ebay item number 350334113458 > > Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK > - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
