Sampson Mordan of Great Britain produced many fine quality mechanical pencils from 1825 to well into the 20th century. Their figural pencils (pencil as represented by another object), are fascinating. Shown here is a pencil posing as a sterling canon circa 1880. The pencil part is hidden in the barrel. It is held in place by a spring action. When the button in the back of the canon is pushed, the working end is launched out to the working position. Pushing the extension back to the storage position and twisting locks the mechanism for storage. Very cool. The canon is 2 3/8" long compressed and 3 1/2" long extended (not including the hanger and ring).