Skirt or dress lifter, brass, made in England during the Victorian period, in about 1870 (photographs 1 & 2). Skirt or dress lifters, were used by Victorian ladies to lift the bottoms of their ankle length dresses, when walking over mud or puddles. The skirt or dress lifter's main body is in the shape of a trapezium, with round folded edges at either end (photographs 1, 2, 5, & 6). The top surface of the main body, is decorated with engraved flowers, & their respective plant stems & leaves (photograph 1). An engraved dotted line has also been engraved along either side of the top surface. The narrower end of the main body's trapezium, is folded around a hollow square shaped link, which can rotate in the vertical direction (photographs 2 & 4). A larger hollow clip in the approximate shape of a trapezium, is attached at both ends, to the far end of the square link. The attachment similarly allows the clip to rotate in a vertical direction. The clip is decorated on it's top surface, with an engraved pattern of small rhombus shapes (photographs 2 & 3). When the skirt or dress lifter is open (photographs 3 & 4), it can be closed (photographs 1 & 2), by first rotating the square link & clip by 90 degrees to the vertical, then releasing the clip to drop forward by 90 degrees to the horizontal, followed by rotating the square link forward by 90 degrees to the horizontal, which consequently pushes the far end of the clip into the round fold of main body's wider end (photographs 5 & 6). 

The lady would place the bottom of her dress into the fold at the wider end of the skirt or dress lifter's main body, & use the clip, to clip the device onto the bottom of her dress (photographs 2, 4, 5, & 6). A round attachment ring is fixed to the main body, through a small vertical hole located near to the main body's narrower end (photographs 1 & 2). A chord would run along the ladies dress, with one end tied to the round attachment ring, & the other available at the lady's waist. The lady would have pulled the end of the chord on her waist, before walking through mud, or over a puddle, & the bottom of the dress would lift up vertically above her ankles. The lady was  therefore able to walk through the mud, or over the puddle, while maintaining the cleanliness of her dress. The lady could later remove the skirt or dress lifter from the bottom of her dress, by using her thumb & index finger to rotate the square link almost 90 degrees, from the horizontal to vertical, which would open the skirt or dress lifter, & consequently release the dress (photographs 3, 4, 5 & 6).

The skirt or dress lifter is in reasonable condition for it's age, although when closed, the clip lies slightly off centre, to one side (photograph 2). The length of the skirt or dress lifter when closed is 8.5 cm, the width 2.9 cm, the depth 1.7 cm, & the weight 29 g. The length of the skirt or dress lifter when open is 14.1 cm.