Object number
55/497
Collection
Description
Sickle with a saw edge and a pointed tip. The reaper curved the sickle round corn and cut the straw by drawing the sickle towards him.
This sickle has a slight saw edge (serrated blade) and a pointed tip, but no handle. It is not known where it came from. The sickle was the earliest tool for reaping corn, with this shape dating to Saxon times, and was in common use until 1870. The reaper stooped and, grasping a bunch of corn in one hand, curved the sickle round it and cut the straw by drawing the sickle towards him.
Physical description
1 sickle: metal
Archival history
MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'The origin of this sickle is not known. The blade is 23 inches long and the sickle has a spike 5 inches long which could have been driven into a handle. The tip of the blade is pointed, and the blade edge slightly serrated. // see also 51/59M'
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