What are these?

Most instrument speculation: A Topshur?

Im not really seeing instrument there, theres no way to hold onto both ends of each string.

With the different height pegs kinda makes me think its holding up rope or thread, cotton loom parts maybe?

Not a whole instrument, just the top part. Imagine the pegs are for strings and the tapered part slots into the neck.

Brett_Murphy said:

Not a whole instrument, just the top part. Imagine the pegs are for strings and the tapered part slots into the neck.

A headstock? I mean i guess anything is possible but i dont really know why anyone would make one that detaches. Thats usually a bad thing, or youve dropped you Gibson lol

Showed it to my wife and her first guess was that it is used to it up log hair. A hair spike as she called it. 

dean1484 said:

Showed it to my wife and her first guess was that it is used to it up log hair. A hair spike as she called it. 

Don’t really want to hear what you do with your log hair. 

Another observation...

They all have a groove below (above?) the heads (balls? Knobs? Whatever) which seems to be equal distant on all of theme. 

(Except the last one, but it’s an outlier in several ways. I’m not convinced it is the same). 

I’m starting to think it is a very clever internet ruse.

Not quite a Niddy Noddy.

I asked my MIL and was actually surprised she didn't know. She is good at identifying old items. That makes me think these were not used by poor country folk at home, but rather were used in something more precise like a factory or mill.

The bottom row middle one looks almost ceremonial in comparison to the others.

My brother says wine cask tap tool. Looks similar to the Google search....

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Similar shape, but I'm not seeing it; those cask tap tools all appear to be taps (I googled exactly that phrase, so post a link if there's a separate tool that isn't a tap itself?), so are hollow and have a knob/handle in the place of one of these items' knobs, and a spout in the other. All these have two pretty clearly identical knobs, nothing that looks like a spout, they all look to taper so much it's unlikely they could be hollow (and the clear one shows no internal passage).

Looks like some kind of Mandrel, but the knobs confuse me.  The offset knobs make me think some kind of weaving or tensioning, but that doesn't explain the pointy end.

The knobs appear to me to be intended for the spike to be twisted and forced into a resisting subject.  I'm thinking leather working (making saddles?) or possibly something to work thick canvas such as tents or sails...?

Five days, still no closer to understanding.

In reply to Brett_Murphy :

That by itself is amazing

This picture has been all over the internet...  And no one seems to know what they are.  Does anyone know anyone at the Smithsonian?  (Even if they are closed?)

And I wonder if the two "knobs" are to allow the pin to drop into a hole at two different preset depths.

SVreX said:

I’m starting to think it is a very clever internet ruse.

lol.  If one were good at photoshop this would be a good way to drive some people insane.

Back from the dead, because it was mentioned in another thread. Still no idea.

I definitely saw those on the history channel once. Something involving either mortuary or torture and the medieval period.

Did you post to Reddit's "whatisthis" sub? 

Daylan C said:

I definitely saw those on the history channel once. Something involving either mortuary or torture and the medieval period.

Except one appears to be made out of acrylic, and several appear to be machined rather precisely, perhaps on a lathe. 

There was no acrylic or lathes during the Medieval period. 

914Driver said:

Sorry about the cow comment, but Fids come in assorted sizes.  Can't figure why the ones above have knobs, a two handed pusher?

Wow, for a 3.5" rope, use a 68" long Fid?

 

You got it.  Marlin spike Fids 

In reply to SVreX :

That...is a solid point actually. In my defense it's been multiple years since I accidentally saw whatever I'm remembering.

They aren't torture or mortuary tools. 

The fact that we've got a few of them all in once place means they were sorta common, so if they were common used in torture, by morticians, or other industries, you'd think a google search would yeild results pretty quick. 

They could have been some sort of fad, a short lived tool that was replaced by something else.