I purchased this first and foremost because I found it super beautiful as both a sculptural object and a line drawing of sorts, too--each of those curvaceous leaves hand-soldered to the flat tin back, with sharp edges exposed clearly made for cutting. (And of course I especially love the heart at the stem end.) But it is also quite unusual in my experience to see a tin cutting form segmented like this, and I've realized since that it was probably made for cutting wax to be used for Victorian domed glass wax flower arrangements--which would make perfect sense. (You'd roll out the wax and be able to cut many petal-like pieces at once, which would then be shaped/rolled to form leaves and buds. Soldered marks on the flat back reveal there was once a handle attached, which would have made pressing down hard to cut easy. I can't find another like this out there, really a pretty special thing I think.
Free standing as shown: 6 3/4" t x 6" x 7/8" d. (or 7 3/4" x 4 3/4" on the square). Very good antique condition, fourth quarter 19th century I believe. with some surface rust here are there, mostly on the reverse side, and more pronounced in photos than in hand. Sound, stable, and not at all fragile.
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