Little bronze or brass seahorse, help please

What is it? Could it be a chess piece or something else? I suspect it is pretty old, but I really don't know. It was found with some Peerage England brass pieces at a local estate but this one is not marked and the color looks darker than the other brass items it was found with, so I am not sure if it's brass or bronze. I was polishing some of the other items, and getting ready to do this one, but thought I better check before doing anything to it. Any ideas are very appreciated, and thanks for your time.
Stands about 2 1/4" high.

 

I would leave that alone!!!!!!
~
Could be for chess but also for a fish tank maybe?
I know.......
Maybe then they didn't know this was a bad idea.

 

it's charming....

 

I remember that seahorses were "big" in decorating (especially at the beach) when I was a kid in the 1960's. I know we had a brass bottle opener with a seahorse as the handle.

Could this little guy simply be decorative - i.e. no "real" purpose?

I think he looks great just the way he is, and I wouldn't even try to clean him up - at all!

 

Thank you all Kingofthings, Komokwa and SBSVC, I truly appreciate your help and comments.
Yes, it could be just a decorative figurine, I just have a feeling that it may have quite a bit of age to it, and seems a bit crudely made. The others it was found with are a little over 100 years old, but this one just feels (to me) like it could be older than the others, and I can't find anything else that's similar? Weird
Thanks again everyone

 

If it's not copper, it looks more like brass than bronze. Is it heavy for its size?

 

Looks like there's a secret compartment in the base, with three dot code on it. Maybe one weight of a set of balance or scale weights and this one weighs 3 sfubnikas. The plug with 3 dots may be a different material. Looks modern because of the way the bottom was finished using a grinder. More likely Chinese than from other places. If you have a precise scale, weigh it and see if it just happens to weigh 3 ounces, 3 sfubnikas, etc. The green crud coating is most likely artificial.

 

Thanks Antidiem, I appreciate it. Yes, it does feel heavy for its size. I took another picture, just for comparison, of this piece with some other brass items that are tarnished. (The cat was partially polished yesterday though). The seahorse just has a darker tone to it than the brass does, but maybe just because it's very, very heavily tarnished.

 

Spring, thank you There is no compartment or plug underneath, and I don't see 3 dots. I may not be an expert, but I can say without a doubt that the green crud coating is not artificial. I am familiar with the artificial coloring or applied patina on many modern & sometimes vintage pieces. This is not one of them.
Oddly enough, this piece weighs exactly 3 ounces... how in the world did you guess that??????????
Thanks again everyone.

 

Greek souvenir piece. Or sometimes, Turkish. I've seen lots of very similar ones with that bronzed patina. I buy them and put them on the edges of my garden pond.

 

I vote modern tchotchke.

 

Had to refresh myself on that woid. Wiki sez: A tchotchke (/ˈtʃɒtʃkə/ CHOCH-ka) is a small bauble or miscellaneous item. The word has long been used by Jewish-Americans and in the regional speech of New York City and elsewhere. The word may also refer to free promotional items dispensed at trade shows, conventions, and similar large events.

 

Thank you Bear, Brad & Springfield, I appreciate the help very much.

 

Maybe an SRG bronze, some of those can be rare and expensive.

 

SRG bronze seahorse looks different, no?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/210862152/vintage-bronze-seahorse-srg-bronzed

 

No, definitely not. I searched Sell Rite seahorse and none showed up.

 

The etsy one they say is SRG is not really SRG?

 

oops, Meant no, not the same as tyeldom's seahorse.

 

I have a set of seahorse bookends that look similar. Maybe it was once attached to a base? Or not. I really like it whether it's modern or not.

 

Thanks so much anundverkaufen and spring for checking I appreciate it so much. I realize it's nothing special and I dismissed it too after I found it, but after taking a few more looks at it, I just had to double check with you all to make sure. I still strongly believe that it is old and not modern and the patina is not applied. But again I realize it's just a chochski, LOL thanks again everyone