Object number
64/62
Collection
Creator
Description
This brake, a basketmaking tool, is made of wrought iron and consists of two prongs originating from a ring with a barbed spike which would be inserted vertically into a wooden post. It was made by Austin Coe Ltd. of Manchester. It was used for stripping the bark from a willow rod – the willow rods were pulled between the two prongs to strip them of their bark. The donor found the brake in the 1960s in a seventeenth century dovecote in Buckden, Cambridgeshire, where fruit baskets were locally made.
Physical description
1 willow brake (bark stripper): iron, wrought
Archival history
MERL 'Catalogue of baskets' form – 'NAME: BRAKE // Acc. No.: 64/62 // Group: CRAFTS. WOOD. BASKETS // Neg. no.: 60/7863 // Place of origin: // Place used: Hunts. [Huntingdonshire] Place made: Manchester // Period in use: Not known. // DESCRIPTION // Materials: Metal/iron, wrought. // Maker: Austin Coe Ltd. Manchester. // Shape and construction: Much same shape as 53/639 but has an iron ring above the round & tips are pointed but do not curve. Spike barbed. // Inscription: label: Austin Coe Ltd Manchester // Dimensions: L. [length] 23 1/2” Spike L. [length] 3 1/4”. Tips 2 3/4” apart. // Use: For peeling willows. Fruit baskets were made locally. (Buckden). // Further History: Found in 17th C. Dovecote, Buckden, Hunts [Huntingdonshire] 1960–1. // Dialect names: Barking iron // Distribution: // Additional notes:'
Production place
Manchester
Object name
Material
Associated subject
Associated person/institution
External document
- L:\MERL\Objects\JISC 2012\60 series negatives\60_7863.tif - High resolution image
- L:\MERL\Objects\Baskets\64_62_cob.tif - High resolution image
