A cabinet of beguiling yet useful curiosities: the objects that get jobs done, improve domestic and working lives, and make our houses more comfortable. If you have ever thatched a roof, measured a baby's skull, or castrated a bull, you will recognize some of these objects. If you haven't but admire the work of, say, Warhol, Duchamp, or Cornell, you will appreciate these accidental masterpieces of daily life.

This miscellany of mysterious objects celebrates the beauty of simple, useful things. If you have ever thatched a roof, measured a skull, stuffed a rabbit or walked on a whale, you may recognize some of these tools. Or, if you admire the work of Warhol, Duchamp and Cornell, you will understand the fascination of these accidental masterpieces of the everyday. Some are the tools of vanished trades, others anonymous implements of simpler cultures, but all have been chosen for their intriguing functions and their elegant, suggestive forms.

Foreword

Introduction

Hitting

Cutting

Gripping

Holding

Rubbing

Shielding

Moulding

Spreading

Testing

Index/References