Well, I used to work for a home insulation business and I worked on a total of about a dozen early timber framed homes, blowing in insulation in the attic area. I found one of these in each and every one of those homes. Obviously made expeditiously on site, and they all had nail holes or nails still in the tops of the side brackets. All were about 8 or 9 inches in total length. All were hand carved, right down to the spindle. (Obviously the spacers on each side were drilled through.) They weren't decorative, they were functional. They all worked very well. I used to find a pulley discarded, laying in the cross members and below the rafters above the living area of each house. Before blowing the insulation in up there I would always look for one of these pulleys, after finding the first two. I would pick it up and spin it and place it on the ledge on top of one of the cross beams. I was just out of high school at the time. This one is from the house I own now, and I found it when I ripped out the old lathe and plaster from the upstairs walls and ceiling. There it was. Just laying there as if it was discarded. God knows what specific job they were used for.
