Featured An Odd Bird

Hey all:

This bird has a mysterious purpose. Was it the head of a cane? Hmmm.....

It appears to be modeled after a Sunbird, from the tropics. It's red, decorated by hand with yellow and blue flowers with green leaves, with a black patch around the red eyes and a long, curved yellow beak. It seems to be made of cast iron.

If you look at the photos, you'll see on the underside that the bird is hollow, with a flat stretch of metal in front of it. The metal is heavily filed and scratched. I'm guessing that it was mounted on something, thus the idea about the cane. But that's just a shot in the dark.

I'm guessing from the style of painting that this is ca. 1880-1900, but I have no proof of age.

This was bought in the U.S. midwest as part of a job lot. It measures 2" wide by 8.5" from "tail" to the tip of the beak.

What do you think this was used for?

 

Well, perhaps not a cane. Having that great beak near the veins in one's wrist seems a bit...precarious.

(Like that chest!)

 

Thanks Silverthwait.

Agreed that its probably not for a cane (the base is too long as well), but I literally could not come up with anything else, so I threw it out there to get things started

 

(Also a Broderick Crawford fan!)

 

Could it be a hood ornament or car mascot like that one?
http://www.finesse-fine-art.com/Mascots/Mascot007.htm

 

Hey, could be!

 

Hi,
I think it was/is a door stopper. it is too heavy for a hood ornament. It would dent the hood. It being hollow it could have been filled with sand. the rough filing on the bottom just shows it was covered over perhaps by a piece of wood.
greg

 

That long beak makes me think of this...http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/season/4/toronto-on/appraisals/cast-iron-bird-gate-weight--/

 

Interesting guesses. Keep 'em coming!

 

I was thinking it sat on a gatepost. It doesn't have the right holes for a mill weight or door weight. Some of the latter had those pointy beaks to serve as door latches.

 

If a door stop, it could also be reversed and used to keep the door open just a bit, using the beak. ??

 

The hummingbirds I have seen and loved especially when I was young (I grew up with mimosa trees which humming birds loved to sip the nectar from as well as some of my mother's outdoor flowers) have never had curved beaks.

Of course the maker of your bird may have used "artistic or utilitarian license" when creating the beak.

 

not all have straight beaks....

or...a scythbill...

 

Great input here!

Looks like I Need Help is very close. Could be a hummingbird, could be a sunbird. I'd say tropical in both cases.

The only difference I see is that I Need Help's second post has a hummingbird with no hole in the bottom. Otherwise, except for the paint, it's virtually identical. Great work!