Sugar nips are a large pair of pincers with sharp blades, designed to cut sugar from a block.David, Elizabeth. "English Bread and Yeast Cookery", Penguin:Middlesex 1977 (p. 139) Before the introduction of granulated and cube sugars in the second half of the 19th century,"Sugar: a Handbook for Planters and Refiners", Lock & Newlands Bros, pub. Spon, London, 1888 the domestic consumer purchased sugar in the form of a sugarloaf, or at least a part of one, and pieces were cut from it by hand using sugar nips and other tools, such as sugar hammer. Greater leverage and improved safety was provided by heavier sugar nips set in a wooden base for counter- and table-top use.
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