A rare antique treen searce,  mid 1700's  beauntifully turned with a great patina. It still retains its wire mesh.
 Antique treen searces were used for sifting powders mainly for apothecaries, the sieved powder would then be made into a paste for pills. Antique searces consists of a semi circular bowl to the top this should have a metal perforated mesh in its central lower section which will let the sieved powder to pass through to the base. The base is hollow it unscrews and the powder can be retrieved.
These antique treen searces are particularly rare to find.
This one measures approx 6cm h x 10cm w.