Metal Rooster with Flip Open Feature -- Purpose?

Does anyone know if this served any special purpose?

5 & 1/2" tall. by 6 " wide

 

Ashtray?

 

To hide Milady's pearls and emeralds?
Salt?
To frighten little children away from the Christmas cookies?

 

@AntiqueBytes, I can't quite speak to what your little rooster might have been used for (from your image I thought he was HUGE until I re-read your post!!!), but if you put a strong magnifier on where I've circled, does it look like printing or a signature??? At least, I think that's a possibility! Look carefully in those "feathers"!! Good Luck....he looks bronze!

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Could you keep matches in it?

 

Just "small stuff" in general probably. It's the wrong shape for ciggies or saccharine tablets. No striker for wood matches, but it would hold matchbooks.

 

It does look just long enough to put the old fashion strike matches of normal size. Probably at one time they were more popular than book matches.

 

Thanks for the tip to look among the feathers. The hash type mark you pointed out is actually on all the feather ends, but one cannot see it from that photo.

 

Thinking that may just be a case of "pareidolia" ?

 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/868089...=sr_gallery-1-28&sts=1&organic_search_click=1

 

Thanks. I notice that says brass. I am not sure of the metal of mine. It looks more like pot metal. Maybe it's just dirty?

 

At last! I KNEW there had to be a name (and an excuse) for my peculiar tendency!! And it seems to indicate that I have a "well-wired" brain!

So why do computers, phones, refrigerators, microwaves, etc., all become stuck, slithery, pixel panic prone, or evidence a tendency to run backwards, etc. The faces I see in my carpet do NOT compensate for the ability to access the Antiques Forum, or Gmail!

 

Usually means we just have to be bigger than the problem. For me, that means nootropics (brain supplements) and studying as many tech subjects as I can. I also do high tech work but since getting in the antiques business in the late 90s, the antiques stuff started to override that. But since my interest isn't just in "what will the rich buy" but buying things that mean a lot to a liberal arts major interested in spirituality. Which means what I buy doesn't always sell for high prices. So, I know what its like to fall behind all the new versions of things and needing to catch up.

 

I'm still not sure how I'm going to clean this. It seems some cleaning methods can leave certain types of residues and create staining later down the road. Any suggestions?

 

A Damp cloth?

 

Someone said it had lacquer on it. People do that to protect the brass's polished state and preserve it from other aging problems. There are about 10 ways of removing lacquer, and since this piece has its own characteristics (it's thin brass in parts), was hoping someone might know which to pick.

 

Any chance this is pot metal with a faux finish, like the gold plating stuff you find at hobby lobby? Just asking....

 

I don't have any expertise in this, but to my eyes the etsy one looks like iron or base metal with sort of a brassy wash.

 

Thanks for your input. Mine is not magnetic.