This unusual letter opener is hand carved of ivory and has a nice old patina and grain pattern. The handle has been engraved with fine Madras work circles and dots. This is a form of scrimshaw work where black lacquer is flowed into the engraved designs. It’s English and dates to the early 19th century.<\/p>\n
There is a fine age crack where the blade is riveted to the handle but the overall condition is excellent and sturdy with no other damage. It measures 7 1\/8″ long. A collection of sewing tools in Madras work are shown on p. 87 of Nerylla Taunton’s book “Antique Needlework Tools and Embroideries”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This unusual letter opener is hand carved of ivory and has a nice old patina and grain pattern. The handle has been engraved with fine Madras work circles and dots. This is a form of scrimshaw work where black lacquer is flowed into the engraved designs. It’s English and dates to the early 19th century. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":353,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[35],"product_tag":[49,51],"class_list":{"0":"post-352","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-other-sewing-tools","7":"product_tag-antique","8":"product_tag-letter-opener","9":"product_shipping_class-regular-packages","11":"first","12":"instock","13":"featured","14":"taxable","15":"shipping-taxable","16":"purchasable","17":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n