Carved advertising 'Rectifiers' handle,circa 1880, with Victorian leather case possibly for the J.Rieger Co. Hight: 9 inches. The carving depicts a man with horses, and engraved with what appears to be an advertising sign :J.F.& Co Rectifiers.The Victorian leather case closes on the carved part.Davids notes:This is probably an advertising piece or a parasol or cane handle for the owner of the distillery J.Rieger and Co of Kansas City Missouri, which was one of the largest alcohol distilleries in the United States before prohibition.Distilleries at this time were also 'Rectifiers',adding sherry to American Whiskey.The practice at the time was to deliver the alcohol with horse drawn carriage.The only problem with this identification is that the sign should read J.R & Co instead of J.F.& Co, but it could be that this was a competitor of J.Rieger & Co,or more simply, part of the R letter wore away and appears as an F letter in the sign.

Lower part of the handle has a large chuck broken off and missing, see the photographs.The outside horse has a chip on the top of the outside ear.