Flogger, cooper's wooden flogger

Cooper's wooden flogger. This hand tool is similar to a mallet with a long handle. It was used by the cooper to knock against the side of a cask or barrel to loosen the bung so that a sample of the contents could be tested. It was also used to 'sound out' casks, a dull thud indicating the cask was full.

This flogger was used by a cooper working in the Crescent Wine Vaults at London Dock. The Port of London Authority employed coopers to repair damaged casks of imported wines and spirits and to help test for quality by knocking out the bung from the barrel, and replacing it once a sample had been extracted.