Featured STERLING SILVER BOOKMARK SLEEVE (???) Ca. 1910.

I picked this up at a small antiques shop while out walking today.

The shopkeeper said it was an Edwardian (certainly looks like it) sterling silver BOOKMARK SLEEVE.



The original bookmark was still inside it, but it was INCREDIBLY fragile and falling apart. The leather was paper-thin, and crumbled when I was examining it.

It was too badly worn-out to justify trying to fix it, so I decided to use some materials I had to make my own bookmark, using the old one as a template.

Like the original bookmark, I made the new one to be double-length, so it has to fold-over before sliding into the sleeve. It's made of vintage alligator leather, and suede.



It measures 6in. long by 1in. wide, just like the original does, and fits in just as well.



The mark on the bottom of the sleeve.



The new bookmark inside the sleeve.

Now - I've heard of sterling silver bookmarks. I've heard of sterling silver paper-knives, letter-openers, page-turners, and even sterling silver paperweights...but I've NEVER heard of a sterling silver BOOKMARK SLEEVE.

If the original bookmark hadn't already been inside it when I purchased this piece, I would never have believed it. It fitted inside PERFECTLY, and was clearly original to the piece.

Has anybody ever heard of/seen another one of these things??

 

How cool is that! I'd call it japanesque, from the Whiting Manufacturing Co of Attleborough, Massachusetts. I wonder how it got all the way around the world to Australia!

 

I wonder if it might have been a mini-strop for a razor? Maybe a knife-sharpener part of a desk set?

 

It looks like the original insert was made in 3 layers - the outside of leather, the inside of a woven, napped fabric (like a velvet), and the white layers in between may have provided stiffness. No idea what its use was, though.

 

I cannot believe this was a bookmark. Far too elaborate, with the dual surfaces, and why would you need a portable bookmark? How often does one encounter a book while on-the-go and need to mark one's place in it? This must have been a tool for something we no longer do, pen-wiping, perhaps. Lovely case, though.

I further observe that leather left in a book for long periods will discolor the paper, those horrible fringed leather souvenir bookmarks sold at tourist spots being the prime example.

 

Ditto, and red is prone to stain anyway.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for the replies. The shopkeeper insisted it was a bookmark. I'm not sure how he arrived at that conclusion, but I saw no reason to question it at the time.

It's very small. Fully open - 6 inches by 1 inch. And the leather and velvet are the wrong type to strop a razor on (and not long enough to do that, anyway).

It appears to be Moroccan leather, paper/cardboard, and then velvet.

I honestly couldn't answer this. Not a pen-wiper - no evidence of ink-staining, etc. I can't imagine what something like this is, that it would be necessary (or even desirable) to keep it stored in a STERLING SILVER CASE of all things.

If anybody has any ideas about what it REALLY is, please let me know!!

 

Looks like it was meant for a lady because of the floral decoration. Maybe a needle case....the needles may have been stuck directly into the velvet or may have been kept in a separate piece of material inside of the folded leather. Three inches seems about the right length for sewing needles. I've seen antique needle cases where a small piece of thin flannel is placed between a little flip-open cover.

 

I love those "horrible" fringed leather souvenir bookmarks and have quite a few! Admittedly, I never use them as bookmarks, they just add some subtle interest to my displays on my bookcases.
As souvenirs go, they are cheap and easily carried home in a suitcase.

 

Maybe, but there's also no evidence of needles.

 

The needles may have been kept in a separate piece of fabric. Or maybe it was used to hold a sterling silver toothpick, although most sterling toothpick cases I've seen were designed to hang on a chatelaine. Another possibility could be a stamp case?? it seems like it was designed to hold something or other.

 

Unless it's a very THIN toothpick, I don't see that happening.

 

Just a random thought...It seems an appropriate size to hold a MOP Chinese gaming counter or two... but I doubt someone would carry around so few...

 

Too short for comb? A bookmark doesn’t sound right but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t.

 

When I saw it for the first time, I thought it WAS a comb, but it looks far too small for that.

 

How about a mustache comb?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/158125...X5gQzC9yivjkF5_IMqeVKKNSvFriofGYaAoSIEALw_wcB

https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...&ved=0ahUKEwi_oZKJjIGCAxVJrokEHb3nB1cQ9pwGCAg

 

Maaaybe? That said, it's only 3 inches long, so...it'd be a VERY small comb.

 

One of the ones on etsy is 92mm - quite close in size. I saw some mustach combs that had a folding handle.

 

It's a court plaster case - the plush-lined leather insert held strips of adhesive material used to stop bleeding and aid in healing cuts or blemishes, or sometimes just for beauty-spots (patches)...

~Cheryl

 

I looked it up - oh my god, I think you're right!!

Now I've REALLY seen everything!

...I need to sit down for a minute...