A COLLECTOR'S FIND All collectors dream of finding that special piece. I have been fortunate to have found several nice pieces, but in most cases, the little surprise on receiving the piece was to find a manufacturers name on the badge of a Thomason, or for it to be a different size than the picture led me to believe meaning it could be a variant. This is the story of what we really dream about - buying that old painting and discovering that there is a Picasso or Gainsborough underneath the top image. I found this piece on eBay and although the picture gave enough information, it did not fully convey everything about the corkscrew. I bought it at a very good price and waited for it to arrive. When it was finally in my hands, I checked it over and everything was original and intact. The helix was full and sharp, albeit a little rusty. The rest of the piece was black. I thought that the escutcheon was silver, which was common. It had the original owner's initials. As soon as I got home, I started to apply silver polish, and the black started to disappear. After 15 minutes of vigorous cleaning, most of the tarnish had been removed, and what remained was a beautiful silver pocket corkscrew. That in itself was a magnificent find. But it gets better. Inside the bow was teh maker's name "READ". Wow!! Thomas Read of Parliament Street in Dublin was a cutler and famous corkscrew maker. He is better know for the famous Read Coaxer corkscrew, seen in several books. The piece likely dates to late 18th century. What a find - this will definitely be a Best Six piece for 2005. The Original picture from eBay A nice looking piece, but not shown to its best advantage. Post Cleaning Here is the piece after cleaning - a truly magnificent silver pocket corkscrew. ClicPic Click small picture to enlarge.        BACK