tailor's egg?

The "tailor's egg" - well, that's what we call it. It is an egg shaped piece of wood, about 1 3/4" deep, about 12 to 13" wide at the widest point, 15 or 16" long and gently rounded and sanded smooth. Many of the tailor's here have one. One of the women here gets her father to make them up and offer them for sale every so often. I asked around and it seems to be one of those tools that no one can quite remember who started using it. I don't know if people use them anywhere else. They are useful for many things, but primarily we use them when basting chest canvases into jackets. I was originally taught to baste the chest canvas into the jacket front by holding it over my hand in order to allow the fabric to mold over the shape that the canvas provides. Most of the tailors here now use the tailor's egg instead of their hand underneath the jacket front when they baste the canvas in. I think it allows for a more controlled way of working especially for people who are just learning, but the senior tailors love them too.