Gordon McGee's Christmas Present

Gordon McGee writes: My wife put a corkscrew in my stocking that has a feature I haven't seen before. Perhaps you can enlighten me. It's an English bone handle screw with a brush on one end and a foil cutter that screws into the opposite end of the handle. When fully screwed in, it appears to be a small tip or nub. The actual cutter is about an inch long and is also be made of bone.

Ron: It is an unusual and attractive English corkscrew. I have never seen a detachable cutter (steel?) set in a bone piece that threads into one handle end. Usually a wire breaker is affixed to one end of a wood, metal or ivory handle to allow easier use in cutting a wire or string on an early bottle. The corkscrew is definitely English, possibly mid 19th century with a hollow bone handle.