How often do boot scrapers come up for sale?

Only about eight a year come to market on Sellingantiques. They are spread across 43 dealers who have listed one at some point, so almost nobody carries them as a line. That also means the category turns over slowly, and a particular pattern may not reappear for a long while.

What are most antique boot scrapers made of?

Iron, almost without exception. Of 72 titles, 52 name the metal and 45 of those specify cast iron. A smaller group is wrought or hand-forged, plainer in shape and often described as estate-made. One brass scraper appears in the samples, and it is the only one on record.

Are boot scrapers usually sold in pairs?

Singles dominate. Pairs account for 8 of the 72 titles, and one dealer went so far as to write One into the title of a single scraper to make the point. Where pairs do appear they sit well above plain singles in the range, including one modelled as a recumbent lion and a unicorn.

What period do most boot scrapers date from?

The dealers' own date fields cluster Victorian, with Regency and Georgian behind it and a further group recorded only as 19th century. Only 20 of 72 listings give a clean year, and those run from 1800 to 1930. Two titles claim earlier, one the 18th century and one circa 1750.

Do figural boot scrapers exist?

Yes, though the zoo is small. A dachshund, a lion, a unicorn, a sphinx and a pair of Edwardian dogs all appear in the samples. Named decorative styles are just as thin on the ground: Egyptian Revival twice, Gothic Revival twice, Aesthetic period once. These figural and revival castings sit in the upper half of the range.

What size are antique boot scrapers?

Sizes are rarely stated. Where a dimension is given at all it runs around 33cm to 44cm, and those are the only stated measurements in the samples. The word large appears in 10 titles, usually on the mounted townhouse and country-house scrapers, and those heavier pieces sit above the unqualified ones.