Allegedly from the former Soviet Union and resident in Ukraine - the latter fact almost certainly confirming the suspicion of its origin - this set of early turns in bronze might date from as early as the mid-1800s. While turns come in many forms, this one is especially interesting - and possibly unique - for unlike any other seen by the writer, the headstock was able to slide forwards and backwards along the base casting. The T-form hand rest was usual for, instead of being carried, as would have been more common, on an extension of the rectangular-form bed or base, it was fitted to a round bar able to be extended in or out as required. The spindle was quite ordinary, equipped with two pulleys of slightly different diameters and intended to be run from a round 'gut' rope. Like many of its kind at the time, the spindle was supported in a plain bearing at the front and against an adjustable hardened point at the rear.
Something of the lathe's quality might be judged from the form of the screwheads fitted where all but one of the larger ones were of the fine 'concave body with knurled top torus and ovolo base type - though the thumbscrew protruding from a band around the spindle was a very simple 'flat oval' design, the easiest and cheapest to make. Contemporary machines of higher quality often had thumbscrews where the gripping surface was concave and frequently of a more elegant shape such as 'waisted oval', 'cusped oval', 'kidney with fillet', 'waisted kidney' and, waisted heart',  etc. One wonders - is the 4-jaw self-centring 'pin' chuck carried on the spindle end original?