Ellis Collection - 18th C Silver Nutmeg Grater Corkscrew

18^th C Silver Nutmeg Grater Corkscrew

Rare 18^th Century English silver sheathed corkscrew shaped like a mace. 
The top lid of the upper part unscrews to reveal a steel nutmeg grater.  This also unscrews to reveal a container for the nutmeg. 
The sheath protects a wire worm. The head of the worm has a knop with a hole through it, so that a short steel pin could be put through it to create a pulling handle. There are no apparent hallmarks. 
The nutmeg was used for spicing up wine, but in the days before refrigeration, it could be also used to disguise bad smells in food. 
The mace shape is a visual pun – the mace is an object carried by royalty or officials and a mace is also the dried outer part of a nutmeg.  8.8 cms

See Ellis & Ellis – Corkscrews page 181, Peters & Giulian – Pocket Corkscrews – page 39. 
 

Condition – Very good, the silver patina and small scratches and marks are uniform all over, so are all of the same age. There is a 1 cm dent and crease on one side of the mace container part and smaller dents on the other side.  There is also a 2 cm line /crease just underneath where the top part of the grater unscrews – probably through forcing it to unscrew in the past.  The worm is intact and of good length.  The item has been well used!