Antique Cast Iron Figural Shutter Dog wood splitting man carved from one piece of

carved from one piece of wood with the bark left on it

Drawing itself: 10 1/2" x 8 1/16"

The red breasted yellow bird on branch of what looks a bit like bleeding hearts gives me all the pleasure of a fraktur watercolor

I believe specifically Danish

No holes or notable stains on the sampler and no losses that I can see

Antique Cast Iron Figural Shutter Dog wood splitting man carved from one piece ofI didnt actually know what this was when I found it in Maine the other daybut of course I fall in love with things all the time whose original function is a mystery to me! Ive since learned, though, that it is a Shutter dog made to hold a shutter open (dog being an Old English term for fastener). This one, later 19th c. French I believe, functions like a hingethe top half can be locked in place at a 90 degree angle, which would be the shutter pinning