I have what I believe to be an antique hand-carved rug beater, but it has a unique shape, with a much larger round beater area than most. (See Flickr link below for front & back images.)
There are small holes around the circumference of the circle, which once held wires. The cross-section of irregularly square-cut wires is still in some holes. If it is a rug beater, I would assume it originally had looped wires on the outer edge to increase the beater’s efficiency.
The front is obviously hand-carved, but the marks on the back might indicate that the board was hand-sawn as well.
I found this at a rummage sale in Abbotsford, B.C. The seller didn’t know what it was.
27.75” total length
18.75” handle
Approx. 8.75” diameter circle (it’s almost round, but not quite)
Eight Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62552004@N00/sets/72157631991407671/
