OneGuyFromBarlick

What's this?

Is it a very early Pillow, maybe to help keep insects out of ears and nose etc.?

an ornamental cleat for fastening thin ropes .

Not a pillow Cathy, although that's a creative thought! Not meant to be an ornamental cleat, though I can see it would be the right shape.

A wooden model of a seagull, It will never take off.

Has it got a design on the bottom? IE, a stamp of some sort.

Does it have a slot in the back or base to accept some tool or blade?

Something has just occurred to me. It looks exactly like an oak knuckleduster!

A carrying handle for a string or plastic bag...stops the bag from cutting into your hands and you can put several bags on the same comfortable handle.

This one has prompted some lovely creative answers but, sorry, they're all wrong! No, Stanley, it isn't a stamp with a design hidden on the back, nor is it intended to be a knuckleduster; but you get a brownie point for correctly noticing that it's made of oak. It's time to give you a clue - it's part of something larger, all made of the same material.

A piece of a wooden jigsaw?

A butter churn handle?
Second thoughts. If you had two of them you could lay rods between them and use them as a drying rack.
Just ignore me, I try hard!

I think I'm with Chinatyke, is it the end of a clothes drying rack?

Good tries, but Wendy's on the money. It's a clever carving of an oak tree in four pieces of oak wood. Well done Wendy!...

Wow that is lovely, very touchy feely.

Lovely!

Very unusual, a good one Tiz.....

Thanks for your comments, and yes Gloria it is lovely in the hand. I was given it as a present and it was made and sold by a couple in Somerset who have a business called Wood'nThings. I think they sell at fairs here and elsewhere in Europe but there web site shows other designs: LINK

Lovely stuff.

chinatyke wrote: ↑04 Feb 2020, 11:42 A butter churn handle?
Second thoughts. If you had two of them you could lay rods between them and use them as a drying rack.
Just ignore me, I try hard!

That's like showing a piece of marble and saying it's Venus de Milo.

Medieval leather tanning. What's the connection with Mayhew?

Mayhew?

Wendyf wrote: ↑05 Feb 2020, 07:42 Mayhew?

I was going to ask the same

Have a look at THIS and all may start to become clear.
If you've never read it, give yourself a treat. It's fascinating. Connections with Berthune Reach on the site and The Morning Chronicle.

Wasn't he one of the first to document the conditions of the poor in London?