Match Striker Gallery          

Metal Match Strikers

Although my main interest is pottery match strikers there are actually a wide range of them made of metal, some examples of which are shown here.

It should be noted that modern fakes (and reproductions) of metal match strikers are more common than pottery ones.

Brass is a common material used for these items, and represents the majority shown here,  Modern castings tend to be thinner than older examples. Cast Iron was also extensively used to make match strikers (especially in the USA). Other metal were also used (I show silver plate below)

Animal Match Strikers

Many match strikers were made in the shape of animals and insects. The bodies are hinged and open to reveal a space to store matches which can then be struck on the rough surface on the inside of the lid.

Other Metal  Match Strikers

Some other metal match strikers are shown below. The brass boot (with rats) is an extremely common design, with dozens of slight variants around.  The brass box in the second image has a tray to put spent matches in. The penultimate image is of a candlestick matchbox holder (from the crude casting probably a modern reproduction). The final image is of a brass and hand blown glass match striker (this has a series of concentric rings on the underside to strike the matches on).