[Hornbook] [realia]

Hand-mirror-shaped wooden paddle with a layer of horn, 12 x 8 cm, held in place by a U-shaped piece of leather, attached by 16 tacks, to hold a hornbook leaf (lacking) on the front side, and the letters A-D and Arabic numerals 1-9 (9 reversed) carved on the back. The two edges of the paddle are carved in the shapes of a male and female figure in profile. The surfaces, back and front, are decorated with crude floral carvings. The paddle is carved from a single piece of oak, and is shaped like an old-fashioned butter-paddle.
See James C. McGuire and Paul D. Bailey. "The hornbook" In: Bulletin of the New York Public Library. 1927. Vol., 31, no. 11, p. 891-898, no. 1 in particular, for a description of a collection of English wooden hornbooks.