Hi Jon , Rod and all Looking at the site posted by Jon I was interested to see the same teether that I had as a babe, (A463 in the listing) I still have it, made up of (as the listing states) a Silver Dogs Head and mother of pearl, it also has a rather faded and dog eared blue ribbon (for me the youngest, being the last to use it) and I can confirm it was definitely used I do notice mine has the little bell missing though !! (perhaps an X Ray would be in order <vbg>) Noticed its a nice price too :-) Best wishes Nivard Ovington, in Cornwall (UK) >> Rod, >> >> although it doesn't blow up too well it does look like a victorian baby's >> teether/rattle. You can just make out a straight "stick" at the bottom >> in >> the Budget picture. This was was usually made of something hard like >> coral or ivory that the baby could chew on. They sometimes had bells and >> whistles on (is that where it comes from?) and were often made of silver. >> I can't believe that they were allowed anywhere near the baby, too >> expensive for one thing They were often given as christening presents >> and >> took on the "heirloom " role. Check out this antique dealers website for >> some examples www.bexfield.co.uk/rattdxs.htm >> >> Jon Malings >> County Wexford, Ireland