I keep forgetting (small wonder!) how the obscenely wealthy used to
lavish fortunes on mundane articles for personal use... which were then
used in the presence of others! (Witness: chamber pots in the
ballroom...) Yes, this *could* be a tooth-pick, although one then
wonders if he's sharing with the entire party? (Why four???) I'm glad
I live in an age of (disposable) dental floss!!!
Clay
On 3/31/2010 2:57 PM, Nancy Neff wrote:
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<j...@nathan54.freeserve.co.uk
wrote:
Anyone got any ideas on what this is?
http://tinyurl.com/yju5sb9
or ebay item number 350334113458
Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK
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