Very unusual & haven't a clue :o)

To tell you the truth, I have no idea - but I am leaning towards an upholstery tool maybe ? or perhaps even used as a shoemaking tool or for other leather goods ? I have watched occasionally the BBC TV show, called: 'Antique Roadshow' with Michael Aspel, maybe one of those valuers could be of some help, who knows ? I am sure, they have seen stranger things than this one ? never-the-less it's a cool tool !!! - it would be very interesting to find out, what it really is ... hold on to it Andrea! BB

Not a clue but I like the patina and texture.

looks interesting, but i'm afraid tools remain a mystery to me

This looks to be a very unique "Awl" tool capable of expanding the hole size by use of the sizzor or expander trigger on the side. I would think anyone using this tool would thus save time vs having to auger a whole in leather or whatever other heavy material. I'd propose it to "Antique Roadshow"... in such great condition it might well hold value. I tried to "google the patent but was unsuccessful... the name Pangbourne via ebay however yieded a wealth of beautiful art and other miscellaneous objects d'arte mostly turn of the century.

Whatever it turns out to be it is an intriguing piece; could be your fortune, eh?

Very unusual tool

I like it, no idea of course and would not like to guess, I always find guessing with things like this is a bit tricky as Victorians had some weird looking stuff for everyday challenges.

way cool and fascinating tool; beautifully captured

Excellent shot, fantastic textures and details. I suspect it is a tool of a shoemaker. If I imagine it's from a dentist ... terrible.

Do not know what tool this is. Superb capture Andrea. God bless.

Awesome tool. It looks like something for either leather or for knotting yarn. Sometimes when knotting one has to make space for a hole without cutting anything. With this you maybe can press it into an opening of the yarn and pull the hole bigger? Maybe a more advanged type of What we in Dk call a PREN. Just a thought. :-)

Impressive closeup. Great light and sharpness.

I would say its a tool for a saddler or upholsterer, usefull and beautiful!

Most likely an upholstery tool of some sort, A. The handle reminds me of a tile cutter I used in the past.

Looking at some of the comments and doing some searches, I am leaning towards cobbler's pliers Great photo -

An interesting thing-a-ma-job.Something about it makes me think of it being used by a shoemaker.Nice wood.

I expect that it was made for the jaws to close initially but like many tools of that time they were often hardened incorrectly so that a little extra force could easily cause the part to bend until that curl came against the handle, forever stopping it from bending further, and breaking. It may also have been made from a discarded old set of blacksmith's tongs to suit a specific purpose, but adding a brass ferrule meant it was for a special purpose and it has been used quite a lot unless the handle was also used when assembled. It is too complicated to be intended to widen holes in leather and there were many tools designed for that purpose. As well, a fid was used to spread yarns or other rope material to splice into or part in order to pass things through. You have a mystery tool Andrea and I doubt you will get a definitive answer. I am quite certain that it was made by a blacksmith and made from a used blacksmith's tongs. I have seen some very similar tongs and they were usually the first thing a starting blacksmith made for himself as they were his most essential tools with which he could make everything else. The proof is in the shape of the metal entering the wood through the ferrule. Had it been made for that purpose, that metal part would have been round and tapered.

Thankyou, Wayne! That is really interesting and useful! I knew it wasn't a fid ( or pren as Helle calls it) as I have one. Lots to work on there.

Wonderful capture of a fascinating tool... no idea what it is... could be dental.. hard to say for sure.

Some very fine reasoning by Sherlock Ho...I mean Wayne. An interesting puzzle you've given us, Andrea.

A fascinating old tool with fascinating (and insightful) comments. I worked with leathermakers years back, and also fabric artists, who made art from fabric chunks as thick and hard as a chair seat. And I saw lots of tools similar to this. Like your enthusiastic commenters suggest, it could be for upholstery, fabric, shoes or leather (the latter two, related). If you go to google images and google "upholstery tools," "shoemaker tools," and "leather tools," you'll see tons of similar looking tools. I saw tools like this in the 70s, when older tools were still found in artisans' toolchests, in ways they aren't now; and this could be from any one of those arts. In any case, the design is beautiful, a beautiful thing to behold: The big bulb, which is of course for the hand, and 'feels' so good; the beautiful dark aged-metal---I presume iron---which has acquired that weathered look that old tools get---they age and age and suddenly pass through that 'threshold' beyond which age ceases and they enter into 'tool eternity'. I just love that look. And that beautiful thumb/finger holder, which gives it a kind of 17th C flourish: It may have been for utilitarian purposes, but we have to assume that the blacksmith who crafted that "curly-cue" felt 'art' come out of themselves as they crafted it. I mean that quiet private art of the artisan, as one crafts and crafts something until it feels perfect, to them maybe a handful of other people. I'm sure you know that as a ceramic artist, ie, the sanctuary of the workspace and how it dissolves everything else in the world as you get deeper and deeper into the piece; the crafter looks at the finished product, knowing full well it's 'only a tool', and still thinks, "yes...perfect...it's beautiful." The crafter also probably took pride in how the grain show in the handle, even in the stain: Hard to find that in machine-made tools. And btw, the photo is simple but respectful: the way you centered the tool on the diagonal, mostly equal space on all sides; and against that rustic backing (wood or stone, I presume): You've set-off the tool perfectly. Sensitively done, Andrea. A beautiful and intimate upload, whatever or whoever it may be...

I'd guess it had to do with upholstery work or leather work too, but I've never seen anything like this either. A beautiful tool though. I thought it might be something to help pull a needle, like an upholstery needle, through a layers of thick material .. or leather .. just a thought.

I have seen old awls that have very similar handles so I would lean toward leather also. Both photos have wonderful detail and I like the swirling patterns in the wood.