MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Tizer]

What's this?

[Cathy]

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

[StoneRoad]

an ornamental cleat for fastening thin ropes .

[Tizer]

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.

[plaques]

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

[Stanley]

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

[chinatyke]

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

[Stanley]

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

[Marilyn]

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.

[Tizer]

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.

[Wendyf]

A piece of a wooden jigsaw?

[chinatyke]

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!

[Gloria]

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

[Tizer]

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!...

[Gloria]

Wow that is lovely, very touchy feely.

[Wendyf]

Lovely!

[Stanley]

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

[Tizer]

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

[Gloria]

Lovely stuff.

[chinatyke]

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.

[Stanley]

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

[Wendyf]

Mayhew?

[Big Kev]

Mayhew?

I was going to ask the same

[Stanley]

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.

[plaques]

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