Name/Title
Awl, Saddler'sEntry/Object ID
1993.2.110Description
Leather-working tool with dark brown turned wood handle that narrows toward end. A brass ring fits on this end. Into this fits a slightly curved, narrow, iron shank with groove down center and pointed V-shaped opening at end.
Mark: "C.S.O. & CO" (Suggests that the tool was possibly made by the American tool-making firm, C.S. Osbourne & Co.) "0"
From "The Dictionary of Leather-Working Tools c. 1700-1950" by RA Salaman, p. 269:
The american racer is "a slender blade, rather like an edge shave in appearance, but V-shaped in cross section at the tip, so that, when pushed across the surface of the leather, it cuts a groove. The fact that it cuts when pushed, rather than when pulled like the race tool, is convenient for working free hand, and especially when making curved grooves."Made/Created
Artist
C.S. Osbourne & Co.Date made
1850 - 1950Notes
Creation Date: 1850-1950Dimensions
Width
1 inDepth
1-1/4 inLength
6 inMaterial
Wood, Brass, IronRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
McClay, Albert and JohnProvenance
Notes
Object owned and used by John McClay, circa 1854 and his son, Albert McClay, circa 1908-1977. Object donated, in 1993, by Wayne Cunningham, son-in-law to Albert McClay.