This George Worthington flange sole iron was covered under a US patent issued on June 8, 1927.  As he expalined in his patent, Worthington believed the giant flange on his iron would prevent golfers from hitting fat shots and from "digging in" when taking divots. His patent does not make a specific mention of using his clubs in sand, but no doubt that his clubs would work quite well for typical fairway bunker shots.

This iron head is made out of aluminum. Throughout history, because aluminum is much lighter, softer, and less durable than iron, aluminum was never used to make iron heads except for Worthington's flange sole irons.  Worthington used aluminum in order to keep the weight of his flange sole irons manageable for golfers to swing. On this particular iron, there is small amount of brass inlaid in the back of the head and in the sole. This was likely done to help balance the club and fine tune it to the exact weight desired.

This club has its original shaft and leather grip. It would fit well into any antique club collection that does not have an iron made from aluminum or an iron, as opposed to a sand wedge, made with a gigantic flange.  Now that's nearly every collection, as Worthington flange sole irons are scarce!

The Clubmakers Art, econd edition, volume 1 page 324.