Catalog Number
|
Catalog Number |
CAS 0027-0017 | |
| Category | Carvings; Tools & Implements | |
| Object Name | Letter opener / paper knife | |
| Culture | Native Alaskan | |
| Global Region | North America | |
| Country | USA | |
| State/Prov./Dist. | Alaska | |
| County | unknown | |
| Other Geographic Data | unknown | |
| Maker's Name | Unknown | |
| Date of Manufacture | ||
| Collection Name | N/A | |
| Materials | Ivory | |
| Description | Letter opener or paper knife in the form of a steel-bladed hunting knife, carved from a single piece of ivory; Wide, single-edged blade curves sharply to a distal point; Short, flat rectangular handle is decorated on each face with six groups of concentric semicircles etched and inked into the surface; Paper knives were in common usage until the early 1900s, when books pages no longer routinely needed to be cut by the reader; letter openers came into vogue around the same time, with the advent of adhesive envelopes; Paper knives tend to be rounder and wider, while letter openers have narrower, pointed ends to fit into the unsealed corner of an envelope. | |
| Dimensions (cm) | Width = 2.3, Thickness = 0.6, Length = 12.0 | |