Hat Fitter, Allie Ainé In Paris, 19th Century

Constructed like the frame of a hinged hat, reinforced with four lateral buttresses, this hat former features numerous ebonized wooden rods, called "touches." These are arranged in a crown shape and held together by a wide wooden ring riveted with twenty-four small mother-of-pearl rings. On the outer edge of the crown, the touches, embellished with sections of cut bone, each receive a coil spring in its notch. Each rod is attached at its upper end to a metal rod placed perpendicularly. The pressure of the two rings on the lid allowed the points to mark a card. This card was then cut along the dotted lines and placed on a block and its matching form, which is sold with the hat former. The maker's mark is engraved on a round mother-of-pearl medallion riveted to the base, bearing the inscription in capital letters: "Allié Aîné Paris" (Elder Ally Paris). Its founder, H. Maillard, patented the "Conformer" in the 1940s. Regardless of the hat style, the conformer was a milliner's tool used to transfer the circumference of the skull onto a template, thus determining the perfect fit. Some minor damage and old imperfections. A beautiful antique tool that could become a decorative object.

Visible losses to the fitter. The other in good condition