Thumbscrew (torture)

The thumbscrew (also known as devils handshake)is a torture instrument which was first used in early modern Europe. It is a simple vise, sometimes with protruding studs on the interior surfaces. Victims' thumbs, fingers, or toes were placed in the vice and slowly crushed. The crushing bars were sometimes lined with sharp metal points to puncture the nails. While the most common design operated upon a single thumb or big toe, variants could accommodate both big toes, all five fingers of one hand, or all ten toes.