Chinese Seamstress's Tool

Spade on one end, curved blade on the other, and a long thin stem keeping the peace.

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. Dark grey-brown and perfectly flat in profile, this slim tool has a small oval paddle at the left and a swept crescent blade at the right. A shallow bend near the blade lifts it slightly off the line. It is 9 inches wide.

Plain and dark, and no less capable for it.