The bone handle comes from a pickle fork, it seems almost unbelievable, now, that the late 19th century home would be replete with every sort of implement to skewer gherkins and anchovies or the like. The end of the handle is decorated by what seems to me a rather Persian-like decoration.

I went to the new Islamic galleries at the British Museum and, in one of the cases there is a book/album made by a 19th-century Persian woman. The open page had a cypress tree illustration, cut out of pink paper. We photographed it and used it as a pattern to pierce out the shape from silver sheet.

The title reflects the surreal absurdity of this object.

Bone pickle handle; silver.

30 x 3 x 1 cm

Photos by Ornan Rotem.