Object Description
A good quality cheese tester, having a brass encased mahogany handle. The steel shaft is stamped Thos Hislop Edinburgh and Herbert & Sons London, with its original hide stitched travelling case stamped I.R.
Hislops manufactured cheese and butter palers, which are now referred to as triers, samplers or testers. They were produced at Mary Ann Cottage, Broughton Place, Edinburgh, and Hislop’s was included in the Directory of Scotland in 1896. Thomas Hislop died in 1897, when Herbert & Sons bought the factory and stock from his widow. These testers required great craftsmanship and were produced there till just post World War Two. Over 30 different designs were manufactured, with different designs for Stilton, Gorgonzola, Parmesan and Dutch Cheese, as well as ivory butter testers and cheese smellers. As with this example hide cases and pig skin ones were also available.