Posted 5 years ago
osmodia
(2 items)
This old Ivory brush was dug up in Bedford. Bristles are long gone apart for a couple of holes which have remains of fairly fine bristles.
It is 3" long and rather unusual holes drilled down the length of the brush inline with the bristle holes.
Any ideas of what it was for ?
I wonder if you can share with us how you established that this is Ivory as opposed to synthetic material?
Well, I am calling it ivory because it looks like ivory. I am not really concerned in what it is made from just what was it's use. It is over 100 years old as the waste tip where it was found closed at the the turn of the century.
The tiny clump of bristles still remaining in two of the holes are very thin
so it would seem that the brush was not used for scrubbing.
I have never seen a brush this size in the United States but I have seen similar ones in design in Europe and much smaller ones here and the smaller ones are still found online and in stores. The smaller ones found here are called stack brushes. I don't know what they were called in Europe but I did see them in use in museums and old buildings cleaning upright columns. I believe the first time I noticed them was at the Rothaus in Zurich being used to shine bright metal poles or columns..