Antique Cast Iron Fisted Hand with Cross at Wrist carved wood chain ) 5" x 7"

)  5" x 7"

this planter is pure elegance

I'm not good at identifying woods but think maybe this is mahogany (

The lid fits tight

I am not the least bit religious

Antique Cast Iron Fisted Hand with Cross at Wrist carved wood chain ) 5" x 7"A curious thing, this old cast iron fisted hand weighs nearly 4 pounds, and based on another similar I have found out there sold by another dealer, I believe it might originally have been a gate weight perhaps for a church gate, with the cross at the base but I'm not 100% certain. There is a recess on the reverse side of the hand perhaps to which somehow a chain once attached. The other similar I found was dated to Civil War era, and I might guess