MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

Try this one.....

[Gloria]

Pretty sure I've seen one, but cant think what it is!!!!

[Tizer]

Derbyshire blue john and Cornish serpentine are two of my favourite minerals!

[Stanley]

Any offers? It's an antique....... but so are most things connected with this thread.

[Tripps]

Derbyshire blue john and Cornish serpentine are two of my favourite minerals!

The Blue John Mine at Castleton, was a day out - with the cubs I think. Haven't I seen serpentine on an antiques programme - I think it was carved into a lighthouse?

Any offers?

We called them spindles, but their real purpose was as a sword. Take your arms from the sleeves of your 'mac. then fasten it by just the top button, and you had a cape. From there you could be a 'three musketeer' and have pretend sword fights.

Thought - why did the musketeers never use muskets - always swords?

[Tizer]

Lighthouses and ash trays in serpentine were favourites for selling to the holidaymakers but in earlier days the rock was in great demand (if you had the money) for bigger stuff such as fireplaces, church fonts, and even cladding on shop fronts. It went to many up-market shops in London and on the Continent. It had been used for centuries and many churches on the Lizard peninsula are made of serpentine blocks interspersed with granite. When Henry de la Beche was sent to survey Cornwall in 1932 he encouraged further quarrying of serpentine for manufacture of large scale items `such as chimney pieces'. In 1846 serendipity favoured serpentine. The Royal Family were on holiday off. the coast of Cornwall when Prince Albert began to feel sea sick and asked to be put ashore on the Lizard. His boatman landed him at Kynance Cove where he chanced upon a local serpentine carver and was impressed enough to arrange a visit for the Family to a serpentine factory in Penzance. There he placed an order for mantelpieces and pedestals for Osborne House. This triggered a fashion for serpentine objects which was boosted again in 1851 at the Great Exhibition where a large Bacchanalian vase, an elaborate font and 13-foot high obelisks in serpentine were shown and received prizes. Eventually the best serpentine deposits on the Lizard were worked out leaving only the carvers in their huts on the Lizard coast. Serpentine is relatively common worldwide but most of it is found in a single colour, often green, unlike good quality Lizard serpentine which can range from green through deep red to black and has veins of other minerals running through it.

One of the last serpentine turners on the Lizard, Vivian Bosustow, died in 2005 and the contents of his workshop was transferred to Helston Museum. We were lucky enough to be able to buy one of his last carvings, an ash tray, from the Museum. His ancestors were serpentine turners and we have a book containing a photo of his grandfather in his workshop. Also a photo of the family with their exhibition stand at Olympia between the wars. There's a photo of the `young Bosustow' here: Vivian Bosustow

[chinatyke]

Thread guide on a mule spinning frame?

[Stanley]

You're almost there China and I am not going to drag this out. David was right, it is a spindle from a very old spinning or roving frame. The Pulley was driven by a driving band under the support and the top pointed section was where the product wound on. Very hard steel, makes a lovely punch in the shed.
Try this one.....

[chinatyke]

Pull push mechanism for a bell, used in the big houses to summon servants?

[Stanley]

Bugger!!!! I thought that one was going to fool you! Very posh, heavy brass casting. I've often thought of fitting it up with a brass bell in the house. But well done for getting it so quickly.....
Now give us the next!

[Stanley]

All right! I give in..... Try this one.

[PanBiker]

Is it the thing you hit with a gavel?

[Tizer]

That looks like a good suggestion, Ian. I'll second that!

[chinatyke]

Or is it the thing that hits the shuttle? Were they called pickers?

[Stanley]

Sorry, nowhere near. You've seen it before a long time ago......

[Wendyf]

A stamp to impress something onto paper?

[Stanley]

Wendy has got it! It's a company seal. It still works and the impression says:- "Craven Monumental Works. Canal Wharf Skipton. James Simpson Builder and Contractor."

Next one?

[Stanley]

There's a hush in the close.....
Try this one.

[Tizer]

Pliers for an engineer with a side line in dentistry?

[Stanley]

Bugger! You're getting too good at this. They are beautifully made dental forceps for pulling teeth.
Next one?

[Stanley]

Try this oldie.....

[Stanley]

No takers?

[chinatyke]

Animal tongue depresser?

[Stanley]

No China but you are in the right area. Think remedies.

[Stanley]

It looks as though you have forgotten this one. I shall give it one more day.....