Can anyone tell me what this is?

[Minus Habens]

 

[BucephalusBB]

My guess is it has to do something with smoking..

 

[BucephalusBB]

Perhaps for a pipe or something...?

Man.. I have seen this device before..

 

[Minus Habens]

I have heard some other suggestions...

A garlic press, nut cracker, even a window latch

My wife picked it up at a yard sale.... I have no idea why she didn't ask then.

 

[angellous_evangellous]

If there's a university library nearby, I would check in a history of surgery book / encyclopedia.

My guess is that it is a 17th to 19th century surgical tool.

 

[BucephalusBB]

My grandpa and ma worked in a sigarshop, so I'll ask my mother if she knows what it is. Perhaps she remembers from the old days
..that is, if it really has anything to do with tabacco..

 

[Phasmid]

Looks as if something is compressed within it and there's a narrow gap to allow fluid to pass through. A tea strainer?

 

[Minus Habens]

Ok, it appears to be a brass scissor candle snuffer....

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Perhaps for a pipe or something...?

That was my first thought. The narrow end certainly looks like it could be used to scrape out the bowl of a pipe.

But the other part... it makes no sense to me. Are there any pipe smokers here? Can you tell me why you'd want to compress your tobacco before putting it in your pipe?

Looks as if something is compressed within it and there's a narrow gap to allow fluid to pass through. A tea strainer?

It looks to me like that gap is just for the arm of the press-thingy.

 

[Minus Habens]

Not quite sure how you would use it to snuff a candle, though...

 

[angellous_evangellous]

I really would like to see the other side...

 

[Minus Habens]

I'll have to post another pic tomorrow. I don't have it with me now.

 

[Zardoz]

It's for candles. Trims the wick and snuffs.

 

[Venatoris]

Silver Tone Ornate Candle Wick Shears Scissors Snuffer - RL-657

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

DEFINITIVE CORRECT ANSWER

Rather a strange later version.
They originally had a scissor blade to cut candle wicks. when you bought candles they were tied together in dozens by their wicks. the scissor blade was used to separate them.

The collector cutter part is on this one but not the scissor.

The reason they were needed was that the original wicks were not self trimming. Then some one found a way to make wicks curl as the burnt down so the excess wick burns itself off.

They were still in common use in country districts when I was a boy

Prior to that as the wick got longer they started to give black smoke, so the need for trimmers.
The so called snuffer was in fact a collecting Box.

The wick itself was not cut just the charred end.

You could snuff with these but that was not the purpose. Snuffers were inverted cones that sealed over the top of the candle. and did not damage the wick.

 

[PureX]

It's a garlic press.

The candle trimmer has a scissor edge where the OP object has a "lid" that squishes the garlic clove into the little container as you squeeze the handles together. The point on the end is for breaking the bigger cloves of garlic into smaller pieces for ease of squeezing them in the press.

 

[Jeremy Mason]

I'm going with medical purposes.

 

[Zardoz]

...You could snuff with these but that was not the purpose. Snuffers were inverted cones that sealed over the top of the candle. and did not damage the wick.

That's what I meant. It trims the wick and snuffs. It doesn't snuff the candle it snuffs the bit of the wick that's cut off. I could use one of these myself at present, I trim wicks while burning (the only time you can) with an old haircutting scissors, but then have to deal with a short piece of burning wick stuck to the scissors!

 

[Anti-thesisofreason]

It is a candle snuffer my mother has an antique one that looks similar.
You use it to cut the wick of the candle to put the flame out.

 

[methylatedghosts]

anyone else think that the word "Snuff" is starting to sound silly?