picture of the week

from an auction of vintage magic items:

RAPPING HAND. This rare example of the "hand" has two hinged fingers which rap on a glass plate or tray to answer a question which has been posed. 9 inches long (23 cm). France, circa 1880.
Estimate $180-220

Wooden hands! Duuuuuude.... Uh, I don't know if they're really made of wood.

I wonder if these hands used to be attached to something? Someone? or were they just like, there? It makes me think of several things... for one, Titus Andronicus Julie Taymor version, where she tied branches to Lavinia's severed hands. And the hand in the ziploc baggie, lest we forget. It also makes me think of amputees and ghost limbs and how they sometimes have sensation in the ghost limbs.

Or, what does it mean to have one part of your body be inorganic, non-flesh?