We picked up this fabulous piece of treen last week. A letter opener, paper knife or page turner was the first question. We can thoroughly recommend a read of this article, which delves deeper into these vintage stationery tools. The most interesting fact is that there’s no evidence that ‘page turners’ ever actually existed!
Having read the article, we’re definitely going for paper knife. It dates from a time when books were sold with uncut pages – and this tool did the job. It’s made of mahogany and carved into the form of a shapely ladies leg with lace up boot. It probably dates from the Victorian era – by the end of the nineteenth century most publishers had equipment that trimmed the uncut pages. It must have been a bit risqué for the time. We love the saucy stocking supporter!
We can’t find another example anywhere of a letter knife in this form, so we think it’s quite rare. Consequently, the best place to sell this unusual item is eBay – allow it to be seen by a wide audience of specialist collectors. It’s going to be listed shortly if your interested.
