Help! What is this Antique Ivory Tool With Leather Accordion Style Box??

[sf777]

I got this from my Uncle's estate and can't figure out what it is.  The tool looks to be ivory. The box seems to be made of leather and brass with an accordion style bottom.  Any ideas would be wonderful! Thanks!

[fancypants]

Welcome to the forum , sf777 .

Nice looking item & case .

I'm curious if this item has a spring to keep the clamp closed , or not (ivory item) .

I'm also very curious to know if the bottom liner of the box is removable .

Could you describe/post the length of the ivory item , and it's maximum opening (of the 'jaws' of the clamp ) ?

Initial guesswork from my old brain sez it might be a medical-related device (subject to revision on this impression) .

[sf777]

Hi,

The ivory tool is 6 1/2" long and the jaw opening is 1 3/4". The liner is not removable. Yes, it does seem to have some sort of spring device to keep it closed.

Thank you!

[syl]

I would do some investigating to see if it's really ivory. Could be something else. Hot pin test.

[fancypants]

It looks like a hemostat clamp .

I'm wondering if your uncle was a doctor/vet , etc. .... also , does the spring tension seem fairly stiff , or kind of wimpy ?

Thanks for the additional info .

[KC]

Hi fancy.  I was thinking some kind of surgical means...(I know Ironlord will suggest a totally different use for it )

However, it doesn't have a locking mechanism.

Was it from a dentist?

Can you take a pic of the end of the clamp without the closure cover on it?

Going to forward the pic to a medical site and see what they say!

[regularjoe2]

Have seen some old German hemos with a 'block' of wood to wedge-lock them , with sorta similar notches , in the non-business end of the clamp .
Maybe an umbilical clamp ('birthing item') ?

I'm not sure on this one .
The crochet-hook/knitting-hook appearance of the handles has go me wondering .

Looking forward to more input here !

[sf777]

Hi all,

Thanks for the input! Here are the answers to your questions:

The spring tension is stiff.

No, my uncle was not a Dr., Dentist or Vet. He was a Interior Designer in San Francisco that collected a lot of interesting items. (I may need to put more on here!)

No, I'm not sure it is ivory, I just assumed - it seems heavier than plastic would be.

I have attached more pics of the front and back of the tool.

Thank you!

[waywardangler]

It looks like bone due to the flecking.  The closeups are not real clear to see the grain and cross hatching of ivory.

[waywardangler]

OK, I am going to put a wild guess out here.  I think it is a clamp to hold the pages of sheet music open.  I do not think it has anything to do with a doctor, etc. because I do not think this could be sterilized properly and I think it is of the age where sterilization was used.  I have no idea what the box is but would like to know if the accordian construction acts as a bellows.  What is below the round depression showing under the clamp in the first photo?  Is it open to the accordian bottom?  Maybe the clamp and the box are married and were never originally together?  I could be totally wong on everything.

[KC]

I imagine the round depression is there so that one can get a hold of the clamps.

[regularjoe2]

The 'Victorians' were fond of using umbilical cord clamps , and sterility was not a big issue with such clamps (used externally , post birth) .

If this is indeed such a clamp , I could see string/cord/yarn hooked/tied upon the ends to keep it in place (& firmly clamped) on the baby for awhile .

It is something of special purpose , it seems to me , so as to be stored in such a nice case (whatever the heck it turns out to be) .... also , the bellows design of the case may have been designed to prevent breakage (early-day 'shock absorber') of the tool housed within it .

[waywardangler]

The clamp appears to be too small for the case.  I would like to know if the case is specifically fitted for this clamp (a photo of the interior case without the clamp could show this).

[fancypants]

Here's two images of some glove stretchers .

One pair is 6 - 1/2" (lighter photo) , bone .

The other pair is 9" , ivory .

Food for thought .

[waywardangler]

Bingo!  Fancypants is right on.  Here is a glove stretcher in the original accordian box on eBay #110479193905...IT EXPANDED TO HOLD SEVERAL PAIRS OF GLOVES AND HAD A PLACE FOR THE GLOVE STRETCHERS BUILT IN - CAN'T SAY WHAT THE STRETCHERS ARE MADE OF - PLEASE SEE CLOSE-UPS - ORIGINALLY COVERED IN A ROYAL BLUE VELVETEEN MOST OF THE NAP HAS BECOME WORN OVER TIME - THE BRASS IS INTRICATELY EMBOSSED ~ THE LEATHER STRAP THAT WAS ONCE USED TO CARRY THE BOX IS GONE - THERE ARE SOME BREAKS IN THE THIN BRASS 'PIPING' ON THE LID - THE INSIDE IS TAN SILK MOIRE' FABRIC - HELD IN PLACE BY SOME WHITE COTTON TWISTED STRING THAT IS PUSHED UP UNDER THE LIP ALONG THE EDGES - THE BLUE LEATHER ACCORDIAN PLEATS ARE NOT TORN OR BROKEN THOUGH THE SILK IS ON SOME OF THE PLEATS ON THE INSIDE AND THE BLUE LEATHER ON THE OUTSIDE SHOWS RUBWEAR APPROPRIATE FOR A TRUE ANTIQE GLOVE BOX LIKE THIS ONE