51/155

This saddler’s stitching clamp came from Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, and was used to hold the leather in place while stitching.

1 clamp; wood [oak] and metal; fair conditionIt consists of two flat pieces of oak, 43.5 inches long, held together by a screw within 3 inches of the bottom. The upper part of the clamp is bowed so that the two halves meet at the top. At the butt the clamp is but 2 inches in width, but at the part where the two halves are bowed it becomes 3.5 inches in width, narrowing again at the sprung tip to 2 inches.

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – ‘Clamp // DATE ACQUIRED: January 1951 // GROUP: Crafts - leather - saddlery // NEGATIVE: 35/214 // PERIOD: unknown // PLACE OF ORIGIN: The H.J. Massingham Collection // NUMBER: 51/155M // DESCRIPTION: This saddler's stitching clamp came to Mr Massingham from Mr Harold Greening of Winchcomb (Glos.) // It consists of two flat pieces of oak, 43.5 inches long, held together by a screw within 3 inches of the bottom. The upper part of the clamp is bowed so that the two halves meet at the top. At the butt the clamp is but 2 inches in width, but at the part where the two halves are bowed it becomes 3.5 inches in width, narrowing again a the sprung tip to 2 inches.’ , MERL list / description [Massingham Collection, October 1989] – 'ACC. NO.: 51/155 // NAME: SADDLER'S CLAMP // NEG NO.: 35/214 // STORAGE: '

Wood, oak, Metal