Wooden mallet

Unidentified · mid 19th-mid 20th century

A wooden mallet or pestle carved from a single piece of wood. The tool is bell-shaped with the top that gradually widens from the shoulder to a flat, blunt, rounded striking end. There is a groove just below the shoulder and, below the groove, the wood narrows into a thin handle. The handle widens slightly at the center and has a rounded knob. There are cracked, white accretions on the handle just below the shoulder, at the base of the knob, and on the striking surface.