United State, Antebellum, Slavery
Description
Flat metal plate (probably brass), with one rounded end with a hole drilled through; slight impression in the metal around the hole from the larger head of an attachment bolt that had been run through. This was originally identified as "a knifeblade handle" and "the handle segment of a knife" (Ascher and Fairbanks, Fig.8; p.11), but is almost certainly part of the sideplate of a firearm (a metal plate on the opposite side of the stock from the gun's lock, used for decoration and to strengthen the attachment of the lock). The hammer marks at the broken end resemble those produced in blacksmithing when thinning a metal blade, and this piece may have been worked in an attempt to produce a knife from a found (or stolen) piece of metal.
5mm (3/16&Quot;) Hole Metal Non Ferrous, Probably Brass Firearm Components Knives: General Cutting Tools
Circa 1800 1865