Need ID on this early brass piece.

[incajoe]

I found this in the same field that I got my 1749 George II copper. I'm not sure what it is but appears to be made of brass and judging by the construction methods I'd say it was handmade and probably dates to the early 1800's or 1700's. Could it be a fragment of some sort of horse tack? What would be inserted into the sleeve part? The attachment flange appears to have been broken off, in other words I think it had a symetrical flange on the other side that is missing. There is some decorative lines carved into it that make a teardrop shape as well as a few small lines near the top of the flange. Any clues would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[Felinepeachy]

It's pretty small. Maybe some kind of keeper like for the end of a leather strap?

 

[Rob66]

A small flag holder? Just a guess with this one.

 

[lostcauses]

table or box leg?

 

[Montana Jim]

No idea... cool though - I'd be wondering myself!

 

[BuckleBoy]

It's a Colonial-Era Prosthetic BIG TOE!!!

 

[incajoe]

It's a Colonial-Era Prosthetic BIG TOE!!!

That's funny, my wife took one look at it and said it's a brass thumb!

 

[SteveDodds]

It makes me think of the grip on something like this.
http://www.tucsonshooting.com/image/system/norm.php?E0AG7-0-5-23-06-024.jpg

Or possibly some sort of cocking mechanism like on the top of this gun
http://www.wwwamericana.com/Dsc00104.jpg

 

[incajoe]

It makes me think of the grip on something like this.
http://www.tucsonshooting.com/image/system/norm.php?E0AG7-0-5-23-06-024.jpg

Or possibly some sort of cocking mechanism like on the top of this gun
http://www.wwwamericana.com/Dsc00104.jpg

When I dug this up the first thought that popped into my head was that I had just found the grip off of an early derringer type pistol but after looking at it I'm fairly certain it isn't a piece of a gun.

Lost causes might be on the right track calling it a leg from a small box. The only thing that makes me wonder about that is usually boxes are square or rectangular which means that the leg would fit onto a 90 degree angled corner. This definitely didn't fit onto a corner but was either attached to a flat surface or one that was slightly round.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Possibly a leg from a chafing or serving tray of some type (modern example here)