Featured Just Me Showing Off My Ivory

I collect writing-slopes, as some here might've guessed. Many writing slopes originally came with ivory accessories, so I've started collecting them, too. These are the current pieces in my collection.

They aren't stand-alone items. They each have writing boxes which they're part of.

 

Boy, I am jealous. I wish I lived closer - I'd be at your house drooling. Love this stuff.

 

The big ruler at the top, and everything on the right-hand side, is part of one box.

The crochet tools and the letter-opener are part of another box.

The ink-knife and the two page-turners at the bottom are split between two more boxes.

 

One of those gizmos under the ruler is a button hook. I can't see the others clearly enough, but they don't look like crochet hooks. Can you put up a close-up?

 

One of them is a button-hook. One is a spike or hole-puncher. One is a file. And the last one is some sort of hook. I believed it was a crochet hook.

Here's the full set of stuff:

 

Now I can see them better. It is a crochet hook. Lovely set. If you ever get tired of them....

 

Tol'ja

In the United States, I think it's almost illegal to own ivory. But in the E.U., U.K., and parts of the old British Empire, the regulations are far more relaxed.

S'long as you can prove it's an antique, (or at least made prewar), then it's perfectly legal to own it, sell it, collect it and trade it. Postwar, new ivory is also legal to own, sell, trade and collect, but the regulations around it are significantly tighter. That said, there are numerous provisos and loopholes.

 

Those ink knives are often misidentified as bloodletting knives. The blades are similar for each.

 

You're thinking of fleams. They're not fleams, they're ink-scrapers. You're right, the tips are somewhat similar, but the purposes are VERY different.

Fleam...



Ink eraser...



I dunno about you, but to me, there's a big physical difference here...

 

When I first started collecting years ago I thought they were fleams, too. It's packed away, so I don't have the title, but I even have a guide to medical antiques which shows them as fleams.

 

I can't imagine why someone would think they were fleams. I've always known them as ink-erasers. I have friends who deal in antique writing equipment. And they sell these things all the time. And they've always called them ink-erasers or ink-knives or ink-somethings.

I feel sorry for whoever wrote that book and put them down as fleams!

 

I found the book. It's called Antique Medical Instruments, by C.Keith Wilbur, M.D. This is why I don't trust reference books that much.

 

You don't have a clearer shot of the pages, do you? I can't see what's going on. And I'd like to read what the text says.

 

More ivory. Antique letter-opener. Bought this today for an absolute pittance. It was so cheap, for a moment I thought it was fake. Both I and the shopkeeper gave it the once-over with our loupes, and both came to the agreement that it was indeed, ivory. So I bought it.

 

Don't know the size.....could that be a page turner ?

 

Sorry, this is about the best i can do with the laptop camera, which is all I have working right now.. The text is basically an overview of pocket scalpels in the 1700s and 1800s. It doesn't refer directly to the illustrations. From what he says this type would be a fixed blade pocket scalpel with double leaf shaped blade. The one he shows, fifth one on the second page, is dated 1777 and made by Dionis-cours

 

It's not a page-turner. It's only six inches long. I have some real ivory page turners which are much larger.

 

maybe it's for a small book !

 

Personally, wouldn't feel 'sorry' for Dr. Wilbur, suspect those items illustrated probably are medical instruments, but if he does show some ink erasers, might keep in mind that when he wrote the book, the numerous online reference sources and opportunities to share information weren't readily available as they are now - and some lancets (fleams like the one in post #9 were generally for veterinary use) were similar in appearance to ink erasers. Regardless, even usually reliable references can have the occasional mistake, and of course no one is perfect, or knows it all...

~Cheryl


Ink Erasers, 1894:


Ink Erasers, 1882:


Lancets, 1901:


Lancets, etc., 1899:


And then, there's this thing, 1890:

 

On the piece shown on post #14, at that size, it's probably a tongue depressor. On the longer pieces, though they're widely known as page turners, and may well have been used for that purpose too, have to say, I can't recall running across that term in period publications - they were usually called 'paper knives', and were used to cut book pages apart, cut paper to desired sizes, burnish down rough areas (like where an ink eraser had been used), as folders, or for any other practical use...

~Cheryl