Lot 619 | South Germany | RARE IRON COMBINATION TOOL

RARE IRON COMBINATION TOOL.

South Germany.
Date: Ca. 1600.
Maker/Designer: Presumably Nürnberg.
Technique: Iron, forged.
Description: The universal tool consists of two parts, with a hammer or a nailing iron at the top of
the head. Underneath, the edged, slightly conical legs, with a strongly profiled,
capital-like base, ending in a nailing iron or chisel at the bottom. Both parts held
together by a strongly cut screw with an ornamentally moulded wing nut.
Measurement: 21,5x14x4cm.


Literature:
Exhib. cat.: Preziosen der Handwerkskunst. Ein Raritätenkabinett edler Arbeitsgeräte aus der Sammlung Luigi Nessi, Lugano, Museum der Kulturen Basel, 2002, Basel 2002. A very similar combination tool described and illustrated p.32, no.1.

The tool with a large wing screw for locking the pliers parts can be used as a hammer, pliers, nailing iron and chisel. But even if it is a thoroughly functional tool, it was then as now also and above all an outstanding testimony to the highest craftsmanship. This is also evidenced by the decorative elements, which are restrained and geometrically strict but go beyond sober functionality. A very similar tool is on loan from the Free State of Bavaria in the permanent collection of the Gewerbemuseum in Nuremberg (LGA3093).