| Height | 4 inches (105 mm) long, 1⅝ inches (41 mm) wide |
| Case | The oval boxwood main body with flat sides and turned decoration to both ends. The centre with a circular cut-out and hand turned and threaded cracker with a shaped thumb piece, initialed B and P on either side. |
| Provenance | Cotswold Antiques 2005, sold for £500; |
Exhibit № 45. Anonymous English, Circa 1795
An 18th century treen pocket nutcracker
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Before the advent of cheap metals, wood played a much greater part as the raw material for common objects and these have survived relatively less well than their counterparts in metal. The selection of wood species was particularly important for functional objects with close-grained native hardwoods favoured, such as boxwood used here, while their functional form and patina have become highly regarded by collectors.
Excavations of some London theatres have revealed piles of hazelnut shells and, in much the same way as popcorn at cinemas today, it appears that 18th Century theatregoers enjoyed hazelnuts through their performances. At this time they were gathered in the wild and were smaller than the commercially cultivated nuts we have today, hence the opening on screw mechanism antique pocket nutcrackers is often quite small.
Product Description
Before the advent of cheap metals, wood played a much greater part as the raw material for common objects and these have survived relatively less well than their counterparts in metal. The selection of wood species was particularly important for functional objects with close-grained native hardwoods favoured, such as boxwood used here, while their functional form and patina have become highly regarded by collectors.
Excavations of some London theatres have revealed piles of hazelnut shells and, in much the same way as popcorn at cinemas today, it appears that 18th Century theatregoers enjoyed hazelnuts through their performances. At this time they were gathered in the wild and were smaller than the commercially cultivated nuts we have today, hence the opening on screw mechanism antique pocket nutcrackers is often quite small.
Additional information
| Dimensions | 5827373 cm |
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