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1860 Handmade Split Wood OX MUZZLE Basket MaineFarmFind
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1860 Handmade Split Wood OX MUZZLE Basket MaineFarmFind
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Antique handmade and constructed of split wood splints that have been cut, bent and woven to form a scarce hive shaped basket designed specifically to be put over the mouth of an oxen to prevent it from eating grass of primitive yet fine & precise hexagonal weave construction with it's original wire bound crossed fore splint guards, pleasing interior wear and structure compression from actual usage (!) and retaining it's original old dry, age toned and lightly barn soiled surface , as found. Maine , 1860's, probably earlier. Guaranteed old and original; this is not a fake or reproduction. Actual weight 1 3/4 lbs. 13 1/4" long from guard tip to rim by 12 1/2" diameter at the rim top. Antique handmade and constructed of split wood splints that have been cut, bent and woven to form a scarce hive shaped basket designed specifically to be put over the mouth of an oxen to prevent it from eating grass of primitive yet fine & precise hexagonal weave construction with it's original wire bound crossed fore splint guards, pleasing interior wear and structure compression from actual usage (!) and retaining it's original old dry, age toned and lightly barn soiled surface , as found. See Mary Early Gould: EARLY AMERICAN WOODEN WARE, Rutland , Vt. , 1962, plate 214 and pg. 220 . This one compares with Gould's pictured example 100%. I had to be in the antique trade and in the old barns for twenty years before I found one of these. I have never found another one since until I found this one. This one is considerably better than the first one I found. It was hung up at the end wall, of the stall walls, of the first (and oldest) barn. Just hanging t âe¦for a century. I knew what it was; didn't even touch it for weeks after we'd started the clean out. I knew it was a good one and just left it hang. "Nice". T are two points to these. First the ox starts grubbing grass all the time and twisting the yoke, harness, wagon andâe¦ won't quitâe¦ day after dayâe¦ so the farmer gets good and sore and, finally, does something. Something is to make one of these splint muzzles as fast as he can way out in the field with his knife all pissed off and shove the thing fresh made over the head of the offending ox and tie it onto the harness and yoke and leave it on and do that every day until âe¦finallyâe¦ he thinks he can chance leaving it off because the "dumb critter" will have forgotten "what it was doing". Then this muzzle is taken to the barn and hung up because "might need it again". T it hangs for at least a century getting barn age toned, dry and lightly soiled. If one follows the trail above on to Gould's book, one easily denotes the natural scarcity of a survival specimen. The second point is âe¦the crude yet precise primitive make of this âe¦odd farm tool. The "we aren't messing around " field-split, whittled-split, jack knife hacked, scrap wire bound, get-the-job-done, green wood readyâe¦construction technique needs to be noted and added to the final find we offer forâe¦ this ain't no Shaker basket but IS a true mad Maine farmer at his jack knife best. Somehow the odd fits, jumpy hexagonal pattern, thick guards and "wicked fast" weaveâe¦ come together with that old hung in the barn surface to beâe¦ a brilliant production, deeply attractive, interest of heritage and singular as a New England splint basket style production. We are not gonna find another one of these, particularly 100% dead-on Gould's specimen, so don't miss out. Very good as found condition. The basket has numerous old splint breaks with occasional loss in the hexagonal weave that are truly not noticeable unless hunted for. This is because the whole form, guided by the thicker guard and rim splints and the ..crude and primitive weave of the hexagonal splintsâe¦ conceal these breaks from the eye. Further, the hefty guard and rim splints, the undamaged rim wrap and the busy-ness of the weave, particularly on the lower "under the chin" side combined with the outstanding and uniform old surface further the concealment of any dam... 
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