Interesting Direct Pressure Corkscrew.
This short article features a direct pressure corkscrew with shallow pitched wire worm most probably dating from the mid 19th century. The corkscrew has a button on the shaft and a strange protrusion through the back of the shaft.
Similar to Hulls “Presto” and “Vangieson's” direct pressure corkscrews in design and looks. The mechanism is of interest, as is the operation of the corkscrew.
To operate the corkscrew the user must press the brass button on the shaft which releases the inner shaft and worm. Then the user applies direct pressure, pushing the worm into the cork, the inner shaft re-enters the outer and the spring assisted mechanism locks the two shafts securely, thus the user can then pull the cork from the bottle. With Hulls "Presto" the user pulls a button on the end of the handle, where as with this example the button on the shaft is pushed to release the inner shaft and worm.
This is a very well made corkscrew of high quality. There have not been many examples found to date as far as I am aware, possibly due to the mechanism being fragile.
The piece has no makers marks of any description, so can’t be attributed to Charles Hull or Vangieson. In my opinion the corkscrew was possibly the for runner of Charles Hulls “Presto” corkscrew as it is similar in design but it does differ slightly in its action.
