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A shaving horse is a bench on which the worker sits astride. This shaving horse was used by a cooper to hold the staves of a cask as they shaped them. It came from the cooper's shop at H. & G. Simonds Ltd., known as the Bridge Street Brewery, in Reading.

1 cooper's shaving horse: wood; metal

MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'A shaving horse is a bench on which the workman sits astride. He presses down the foot lever so as to hold fast a piece of wood under the projecting clamp block. He then takes a draw knife and with both hands he shaves the wood to the required shape. The shaving horse is of course used by most woodworkers, but the cooper uses it for all 'small' work from 9 gallons downwards. Various hollowing and backing knives are used while the wood is held in the horse. This particular specimen was used in the Cooper's shop of Messrs H & G Simonds Ltd., Reading, has a seat 27 inches high at the back dropping to 22 inches at the front, while the clamp itself, which swivels from a fixed centre, is 27.5 inches high. It is 13 inches wide and has foot rests 4 inches wide.', Object research project, Further Afield, January 2025 - 'The language is gendered – workman/ he presses, etc., There is at least one example of a female cooper.'

Wood, Metal