Images(2)

Claw Hammer

Date1750-1820

OriginEngland

MediumIron, steel, and wood

DimensionsOverall: 14 5/16 × 5 13/16 × 1 15/16 in (36.4 × 14.7 × 4.9cm)

Credit LineBequest of Stephen C. Wolcott

Object number1936-155 (W)

DescriptionHammer with a steel-faced octagonal head, a stout nail-pulling claw, and a round-section ash handle. Head secured by two decoratively-filed side straps attached to each other by a pair of rivets set through the handle. Top end of straps flare outwars and completely cover the eye at the top of the head.Label TextStill viewed as an everyday tool for driving nails and pulling them out, the claw hammer has changed little since Roman times. This heavy colonial-era example has a pair of decoratively filed side straps which reinforce the wooden handle and secure the hammer head to it. Its steel-faced head is “mushroomed” from hard use.ProvenanceFrom the collection of Stephen C. Wolcott (1876-1934) of Gloucester, Virginia.