51/1198

This eel spear, also called an eel prong, has seven steel prongs and was used for catching eels. The spear would have been attached to an extremely long handle and would be plunged several feet into the mud. The eels would be gripped on the steel hooks when the spear was withdrawn. This spear comes from Sussex and dates to the eighteenth century.

1 eel spear: metal [steel]; good condition

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'Eel prongs usually had handles of ash, ten to twenty feet long. They were very heavy so that they plunged through their own weight several feet into the mud. The steel hooks splayed out and gripped the eels when the pole was withdrawn. // This head consists of seven steel prongs arranged fanwise, the central one lanceolate, the others barbed, uniting in a tapered socket. // It measures 19 inches in length, and came from Sussex. // See also 51/17M', Victoria & Albert Museum No. M302, 1917.

1700-01-01 - 1799-12-31

Eighteenth century