Over the centuries, designers have used boundless ingenuity to solve the problem of how to separate a nut from its shell, employing levers, pincers, hammers and screws.
As the saying goes, there's more than one way to crack a nut.
Arlene Wagner, founder of the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, says: "There is no other tool or collectable that comes in as many designs or materials as that of the nutcracker. Amongst the museum's 9,000-strong collection are a prehistoric nutting stone, a Roman nutcracker made of brass, countless centuries-old examples in other types of metal or wood, as well as pieces made from unexpectedly fragile materials like ivory and porcelain.
It's the sheer variety of designs that appeals so strongly to collectors, thinks Sally Honey, a dealer who specialises in treen.
'Primarily they are functional objects, but it feels like there are an infinite number of artistic interpretations,' she adds. Wooden nutcrackers seem to take the wildest forms, mimicking humans, birds and animals of all kinds, often with humorous effect. Would you like a sharp-toothed crocodile to open your nut between its jaws? Or perhaps, after dinner, you'll pass around a saucy pair of lady's legs and invite your guests to crack a nut between her thighs?
James Lewis, CEO of the auction house Bamfords, finds nutcrackers appealing because they once spanned the whole of society: "We now tend to associate nutcrackers with Christmas, but in the same way that everyone used to take snuff - from poor working people to the grandest nobility everyone used to eat nuts.
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Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av Homes & Antiques.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Lisa Coppin
The Cotswold Company’s chief creative officer shares the pieces that mean so much to her
TRAVEL
Six of the best pineta, plus a festive trip to Covent Garden. Review of The Orange, Belgravia by Katie Pike, travel stories
OLD SHEFFIELD PLATE
Stumbled upon by chance, this ingenious material was a more affordable option than solid silver, and well-preserved examples are particularly desirable today
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Summoning servants since the 1700s, bell boards create instant English country-house style (even if you don't have any servants). Emma Longstaff dons her pinny
Let it snow
Nostalgic, magical and highly collectable, snow globes are curious objects of wonder that never fail to instil joy
Velvet Crush
Once the preserve of the wealthy, velvet finally touched all levels of society, thanks to advances in its production process
Celebrating in the Stable
Antiques dealer Julia von Hülsen specialises in Gustavian pieces - all of which look perfectly placed in her German home
THE SHOW MUST GO ON
Victorian toy theatres charming and exquisitely designed miniature worlds have inspired theatre royalty for decades. Today, the tradition is being kept alive by a small but talented network of makers
NICHOLAS LEES
The ceramic artist talks to Dominique Corlett about new ways of working with clay and blurring the edges of solid objects
Candy CHRISTMAS
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