TOOL: TWEEZERS, LIPFERT FAMILY

A pair of tweezers made from a single thick copper wire twisted to form a loop at one end and crossed at its points. The points have been sharpened and flattened. A notch cut into the wire on both sides keep the points in place. Tweezers were used for locating and extracting isolated long hairs which may have been left in the leather. These were known as: 'Kemps' from the old name 'Kamp', meaning whisker. Information from R.A Salaman's 'Dictionary of Leather-working Tools' [London 1986]. Presumed to have been used by Otto Lipfert of 270 York Street in his leatherworking hobby.