nutmeg rasp

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• Allison Skewes asked

  How many cm thick and wide is the wood? Is the back solid or is there a gap for the nutmeg to fall through? How long is the brass rasp? I think it would be rather fun to try to make a reproduction based on this item!

• Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen answered

  Hi Allison, it's a 16th-century Dutch nutmeggrater, made from wood and perforated copper plate.There's a little hole in the top part of the wood, probably to hang the grater on. The length of the wood is 10,3 cm, we don't have the width in our records, my estimate would be c. 3,5-4 cm. There's no hole in the middle of wood, because the grated nutmeg could just exit at the open ended short end. If you indeed make a reproduction of it, we would of course love to see a picture of the end result! Best, Alexandra PS. Check this print of Pieter van der Heyden (after Pieter Bruegel); you'll find a giant grater in the left bottom corner: http://collectie.boijmans.nl/nl/object/64153/De-vette-keuken/Pieter-van-der-Heyden