Antique Brass Mortar and Pestle w/Knob Handles

Picked this up from an acquaintance of mine. I won it from her on eBay. I think she was relieved to give it to me to be honest - she said she was having a lot of trouble selling and was just glad to be rid of it! It's now part of my brassware collection...





I've no idea how old this thing is, but I DO know that it's been through a LOT in its life, so it's obviously at least 100, maybe even 200 or more years old!

It's lathe-spun, evidenced by the drill-marks on the base of the mortar, on the knob-handles and the shape of the pestle, and it's got pairs of decorative rings cut into the outside, inside, underside and handles of the mortar, and a double-ended pestle.







The entire body of the mortar, inside and out, and most of the pestle are covered all over in dents and dints from where it's been bashed around. There's a tiny warp-dent on the lip of the mortar from where something's smashed into it. Fortunately it's hardly noticeable so I'm not bothered.



Here it is with my other knob-handle mortar-and-pestle set (on the right). They're almost exactly the same size.

I don't know how old these things are, but my guess is anywhere from 1700-1900. The one on the left has been heavily, HEAVILY used!!

I just love these old-fashioned, brass apothecary-style mortar-and-pestle sets

 

Me being the incorrigible rogue that I am, I couldn't leave the dent on the rim of the mortar alone.

I took out my little ballpeen hammer and commenced 'percussive maintenance' on it, as a friend calls it!

I'm happy to say that about a half-dozen well-placed hammer-strikes pushed the dent flush and it looks great now!

I know it's worked properly, because I don't feel the lump and the dip in the metal anymore. But also, the mortar sat flat and level on its base, but when I flipped it over and rested it on the rim, it wouldn't stop wobbling and shaking.

Now, it sits flat and level, right-side-up, or upside-down! So it's back to its original shape!

You can see the dent in the second photo of the original post. In the middle of the picture on the rim, you can see a downward dip in the rim where something's hit it.

Well, I hit it right back! And now it's perfect.