History Challenge & Journal

[Siani]

Mermaid?

Yes

[Siani]

It's obviously a fake and it doesn't look very female, so I'd guess it's a hoax merman of some kind, but without going into Google, I have no idea of the details.

Yes you and migrant are correct. I will wait until a few more hours and if not solved will tell you. Fish is correct for one part. Google if you want to a its quite hard.

[Siani]

Its the feegee mermaids, also known as the Figi mermaid. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_mermaid

[pharvey]

What is it, and what was it used for...?

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[richard]

A box to ship a crazy Aussie from the UK to Perth

[pharvey]

A box to ship a crazy Aussie from the UK to Perth

It was a bit to "current" wasn't it!!

What a crazy bugger though!

[richard]

A box to ship a crazy Aussie from the UK to Perth

It was a bit to "current" wasn't it!!

What a crazy bugger though!

Got balls though. What went through my mind is where do you go for a sh1t?

[pharvey]

OK.... It is a "challenge", but I don't honestly know the answer!! Mods - please move if you feel necessary, however I still think this is the most suitable place... It's a bit of fun and at the end of the day I might find out what it is!!

To the point!! The Long Haired General purchased this from an Antique Market in Bath last weekend... The seller informed her that it was a knife/blade sharpener, which quite frankly is utter rubbish. The problem is..... what the hell is it???!! My thoughts were something like a tool for punching leather or the like..

Bone handled. The total length of the handle is approx. 150 mm.
The silver sections you see are Hallmarked - from what I see, 4 symbols - the 1st is difficult to make out, but a grid of 4 (reading R-L from top "S", "B", "H", "B"), 2nd symbol is a crown, 3rd a lion and 4th the letter "Z". These "possibly" indicate Sheffield and the mid-1800's.....
The "Blade" is hexagonal, smooth finish and around 250 mm in length. It has "CASTSTEEL" stamped at it's base (at the handle). It goes down to a sharp point.

[PeteC]

It could be a knife sharpener, although the ones I've had of similar style had a round shaft with small grooves in it. Pete

EDIT: Like below.....What ytou have could be a medieval version?

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[pharvey]

^ For a knife sharpener, it would have to have rough/ridged edges - the blade/shaft is smooth metal, so IMHO no way a sharpener.. Also, why would a blade/knife sharpener have a sharp point?

It's more like some kind of punch to me..

[lindosfan1]

The steel on a knife sharpener is not smooth and the handle is the wrong shape. Too have a silver and horn handle, could be ceremonial, or be some sort of implement. Possibly at the dining table. The hall mark was 1843,67 or 92. Did it have a king or queen in the hallmark as 1843 and 67 the hall mark letter is the same?

[pharvey]

^ Didn't think of anything related to the dining table - which is a fair point, silver and bone/horn handle....

1843 is what I thought after some research on the Internet with regards to the Hallmark - nothing with King or Queen though.

[lindosfan1]

The date could be 1867 as the letter is in the same style. Coming from Sheffield they were the biggest manufacturing area of cutlery in the world. I have seen something like this before, buggared if I can remember where or when. Will sleep on it.

Edit After thought and looking at the picture again, I think it was with a carving set at the dinner table not 100% sure though.

[lindosfan1]

Part of fish carving set

[richard]

Seem to remember my father using something almost exactly the same for sharpening the carving knife for carving the Sunday joint. The pointed end was used for picking up a slice of meat to transfer it to a plate. The handle was certainly the same. Maybe a Google of antique carving knives will reveal the real answer.