What-is-it question XXXVIII.

[2209patrick]

This item is about 7 inches (18cm) long.
Made by Charles Watts, London and dated 1817.
What was it called?



Pat.
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[byron mac donald]

Hi Pat-
Could it be a "Dental Loupe"?
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[SusanWhite]

Hi, Patrick!

Is it a lorgnette?

:0)
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[2209patrick]

Good morning Byran and Susan.

Excellent ideas, but this item is not a dental loupe or a lorgnette.

Here's a clue. This rare item was used when preparing food.

Pat.
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[2209patrick]

Here's another clue.
This item was used when preparing a couple of different kinds of meat.

Here's a picture of another one to give you an idea of it's size. The items in the picture are silver kitchen utensils except for E.



Pat.
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[byron mac donald]

Hi Pat-
Could it be a poultry skewer?
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[SusanWhite]

Hi, Pat!

Is there anything missing on this piece? Is the ring supposed to be a "ring" of some kind or did it hold something in it?

Thanks!

Sincerely,
Susan
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[SusanWhite]

Is the handle not completely intact or is the "channel" in it supposed to be there? The second picture you gave us doesn't make that clear, but I know it could be just that the thing was flipped over and the "channel" could be on the other side.

Thanks, again!
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[2209patrick]

Good morning Byran and Susan.

Susan, the ring is described as "the finger ring handle".
Yes, I think there is a channel there, but I'm not sure why.

Byran, a poultry skewer is close enough for me.
This is called a "Barling Needle". Presumably it was used to insert rolls of bacon into a fowl or beneath the outer skin of a joint prior to cooking. That's all the info my book gives.

Regards,
Pat.
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[admin]

Hi Patrick,
Presumably, the slot is there to facilitate coiling the rasher into a thin tube around the rod, perhaps it was then unrolled, once under the bird's skin.

What is example "e", and is that a tiny cup on the round end?

Regards, Tom
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[wev]

It is also called a larding needle. In the case of bacon, it was not the strips we are used to -- in those days bacon was made and stored in large slabs.
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[admin]

wev,
Still is in many places, but was it not sliced thinly before use, especially in larding? Can't see as how one would use a long needle-like object to ram a chunk of anything under a game bird's skin.

Regards, Tom
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[2209patrick]

Hello Tom.

Letter "E" actually is used for three things:
- The narrow end was used as a Bodkin.
- The rectangular hole left of center was used as a ribbon threader.
_ The small scoop was used as an earpick. (Honest, that's what the book says.)

Pat.
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[Granmaa]

Hi Pat,

Does the book give a date for that bodkin? I've bought a similar one which I'll put on the forum soon.

Miles
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[2209patrick]

Hello Miles.

My first picture has a barling needle made by Charles Watts, London and dated 1817.

The book does not give a date for the second barling needle.

C. sucket & spoon is 1691.
D. pastry cutter is 1683.
F. apple corer is 1683.
G. corkscrew is 1770.

Pat.
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[admin]

Hi Patrick,
Handy item, almost a swiss army knife!

...back to larding, just found the technique

...Two larding needles are required to be
procured at any good house-furnishing store
one large-sized for veal, beef d Za mode, etc.; the
other, small, for poultry, cutlets, and sweetbreads.
In larding poultry, hold the breast over a clear
fire for a minute, or dip it in boiling water to make
the flesh firm. Cut some strips of firm fat bacon,
two inches long, and the eighth of an inch wide,
and make four parallel marks on the breast, put one
of these strips of bacon fat, called lardoons, into the
split end of the small needle, securely, and insert it
in the first mark, bringing it out at the second, leav-
ing an equal length of fat protruding at each end;
insert these lardoons at intervals of half an inch or
less down the two lines first commenced, and then do
the same with the two others....

From: Scribners monthly, an illustrated magazine for the people. / Volume 19, Issue 4, February 1880
Scribners Magazine
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[Granmaa]

Pat,

I wanted to know the age of E.
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[2209patrick]

Sorry Miles.
There is no date given for "E" either.

Pat.
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[2209patrick]

Found this bodkin in another book. It's about 5.75 inches (13.6cm) long.
This bodkin is unmarked, but they estimate the date as 1680.

They say the small ear cup at the upper end may have served to gather ear wax for treating the thread.



Pat.
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