Prichard Antiques

Description

An elegant solid stamped brass Letter Clip in the form of a hand. The details are fine, showing the nails, knuckle lines, a ring and a braceletted cuff. It has a lovely spring barrel mechanism that is still in superb working order. It was made by the Birmingham foundry of J & E Ratcliff the makers stamp is on the base-plate. They were operating in St Pauls Square, Birmingham, from 1839 to 1881, producing many different items, one being a Patent Letter Balance (invented by Professor Wills of Cambridge) that helped to improve the speed of the burgeoning Post Office in sorting and weighing envelopes. This Letter Clip is one of their more unusual and finer models.