To quote from the Wikpedia page on Tunbridge ware, "Tunbridge ware is a form of decoratively inlaid woodwork, typically in the form of boxes, that is characteristic of Tonbridge and the spa town of Tunbridge Wells in Kent in the 18th and 19th centuries. The decoration typically consists of a mosaic of many very small pieces of different colored woods that form a pictorial vignette. Shaped rods and slivers of wood were first carefully glued together, then cut into many thin slices of identical pictorial veneer with a fine saw. Elaborately striped and feathered bandings for framing were pre-formed in a similar fashion." We are talking England, of course, folks. The pictured pencil is an example of the craft. It probably was produced before the turn of the 19th century. The sliding mechanism, via a button attached channel, moves the inserted wooden pencil in and out of the writing position. The tip is very likely black hard rubber. The crown resembles bone or ivory.