Chinese Seamstress's Tool

Tightly corded shank connects a tiny curled eye and a broad curved blade.

This iron seamstress's tool is from Hebei Province, China, and dates to the 19th century. Iron tools were part of the daily work of Chinese households, where sewing, mending and embroidery were skills that women commonly practiced and passed from one generation to the next. Fine spiral twisting runs most of the length of this tool's shank. At the left, it curls into a little looped end, and at the right it swells into a wide, scooped blade with a pitted face. The surface is mottled brown. It is 8.25 inches wide.

Rope-like detail where the maker could have stopped.