English mechanical rack-and-pinion corkscrew with crank and brush, 19th century

Date

19th century

Origin

England

Materials

Patinated bronze, steel, turned bone and natural bristles

19th-century English mechanical corkscrew in patinated bronze, steel, turned bone and natural bristles, in the line of patented Thomason-type systems. Its cylindrical bronze shaft, articulated with cavettos and moulded fillets, houses a steel rack-and-pinion mechanism. A lateral baluster-form crank drives the internal pinion, which operates the axial rod and the helical tempered-steel worm for extracting the cork. The upper transverse grip, in turned bone decorated with carved rods, retains at one of its ends its bottle-neck brush in natural bristles. A mobile steel suspension ring surmounts it at the centre. Through the precision of its construction and the legibility of its mechanism, this accessory bears witness to the engineering of table objects in England during the Victorian era.