51/879

This cooper's adze, which is missing its handle, was used for hewing out cask staves from longer pieces of wood. It has a slightly basilled cutting edge on one end of the steel blade. Nothing is known of its origin.

1 adze: metal (steel); fair condition - handle missing

MERL Miscellaneous note from conversation with Alistair Simms (Master Cooper), 3 September 2014 – Different sizes of adze are used for different sizes of cask: No. 1 for pins, No. 2 for pins and firkins, and No.3 for barrels and hogsheads., MERL 'Catalogue index' card – 'Nothing is known of the origin of this cooper’s adze. Such tools were used for hewing out barrel staves from longer pieces of wood. They are smaller than carpenters’ adzes and are much more saucer shaped. They were wielded with one hand, and often had quite a short wooden handle. This adze has a slightly basilled cutting edge, and at the other end a square block with an incised surface. In the middle there is a socket for the handle which passes right through the blade. The blade is made of steel and measures 9 inches in length. // See 55/38.', No Lavinia Smith No. recorded.

Rippon, Miss Dorothy May Lyddon (Agent)