Artifact Trivia Returns

Are you ready for another round of artifact trivia? Here’s our first item!

Our Curator Cat, Frankie, is puzzled by this one!

But if you’re ready for the answer, read on . . .

The wooden object above is from our kitchen collection. To the best of our belief, it is a decorative rolling pin (or pastry crimper). You may have come across modern rolling pins with designs cut into them, or even butter molds, both of which serve a similar purpose. This device could be used to press pastry pieces together (“crimping” as needed)—or for a purely decorative purpose, pressing pastry down and leaving a design behind.

Pastry crimpers today are most often small, metal wheels that leave a zigzag edge behind as they trim rough pieces. Ours is larger than most crimpers but still much smaller than most rolling pins; chances are it may have been designed for a particular recipe or dish.

Do you have anything similar in your kitchen?