What-is-it question LX

Post by **Granmaa** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:51 am

This item was made in London in 1885, it is 6 inches long.
What is it?

Miles

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Hose_dk · Post by **Hose_dk** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 1:18 pm

saw is easy i will gues a litle.
possibility 1 for sugar
if that is not the case medical a doctors tool.
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Post by **dognose** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:47 pm

Hi Miles,
Is it some kind of novelty cake knife, perhaps for yule log?
Trev.
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Post by **Granmaa** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 2:52 pm

It's not for sugar, cake or bone.

Clue: It's food related.

Miles
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Doos · Post by **Doos** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 4:46 pm

Hi,

Could it be used to divide a hen or some other cooked bird?
Otherwise it looks like a tool Lorena Bobbitt would use.
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Post by **Granmaa** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:27 pm

This isn't for cutting hens or coqs........... or any other bird come to that ; )

Miles
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Post by **admin** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:34 pm

Ice Cream Knife?
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Post by **dognose** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 5:41 pm

Or maybe French sticks?
Trev.
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Post by **2209patrick** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:44 pm

Wild guess.
Tool for cutting out the insides of a grapefruit or orange?
The ones I've seen are usually curved.

Pat.
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Post by **Granmaa** » Wed Jul 11, 2007 6:50 pm

Nice tries, but I'm afraid not.

Remember that sterling silver is soft, and the food item this saw cuts is soft as well.

Miles
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Hose_dk · Post by **Hose_dk** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:43 am

Asparagous?
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Post by **dognose** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:36 am

Tomatoes? especially when preparing tomatoe saws!
Trev.
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Post by **Granmaa** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:36 am

No and no. I think this is my first mystery object that has lasted over four hours!

Trev is closest with the type of food this cuts; think sandwiches and salads.

Miles
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Waylander · Post by **Waylander** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 6:10 pm

Lettuce knife?

Waylander
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Post by **Granmaa** » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:20 pm

Not lettuce either.

One more guess and I'll reveal all.

Miles
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Post by **dognose** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 3:46 am

Surely not for hard boiled eggs!
Trev.
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Post by **Granmaa** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:39 am

No not for eggs either.

It's actually a cucumber saw, and a pretty rare item as you can imagine.

Miles
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Doos · Post by **Doos** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:27 am

Hi,

Sounds like a novelty indeed, usually you would expect a slicer for that.

About the lettuce; the silver and the lettuce will react chemically to a poison (atleast when the silver gets "chipped" off the silver fork by the knife). That is the reason why etiquette dictates one should never cut lettuce. It is however just a left-over from the days when people who could affort lettuce ate with silver cuttery.
Nowadays hardly anyone uses silver anymore, so it should be perfectly ok to cut lettuce.

Something similar happens with egg and silver.
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salmoned · Post by **salmoned** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 5:56 pm

How was the purpose for this item determined? Was it found listed in the maker's record book as a cucumber saw? Just wondering...
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Post by **Granmaa** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:28 pm

Good question; the saw was sold by Christie's (New York) and that was how they named it. There's also a similar one on the ASCAS website. I don't know where they found out its title.

Miles
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