Early 18th Century Vernacular Fruitwood Fruit Press c. 1730

It is a rare delight to find a tool that works today as it did in the 1700s and rarer that such an everyday working object has survived 300 years in such excellent condition.

Perhaps this lovely fruit press was so well cared for because it belonged to a beloved and ancestor and this piece does indeed carry a name.

Hand punched into the side of the stand with a cross at each flank are the words ‘+ Balint Iaiosne + ’ which is Hungarian and means ‘Wife of Valentinus Iaios’.

This is a domestic press but substantial so Mr and Mrs Iaios must have produced a lot of fruit for home pressing - perhaps apples or pears for cider or grapes for wine.

The press appears to be made of slow grown dense applewood - the colour is beautiful and the grain very tight. It may well have been made in Hungary and travelled with the family after the failed 1848 Hungarian war of independence against Habsburg rule – a time when many Hungarians fled into exile in England and just as today they took with them the tools that would help them survive in a new country.

The press is beautiful and functional. The long lever and heavy weight of the press head would have made it light work that one could continue for many hours. The original metal sieve is still present and has a later (still early hand wrought) section of sieve added, probably in the early 19th century, as a repair.

This press has been used by several generations and the patination and colour are superb.

An utterly charming and unusual piece of vernacular working furniture.

I doubt you or I will ever see another!