Antique Cast Iron Figural Shutter Dog vintage pencil sketch The handle measures approximately 1"

The handle measures approximately 1" in diameter

known for hand-thrown stoneware pieces glazed with modernist patterns

right down to his slightly off center belly button

I believe he dates to the 1930s or so

signed on reverse

Antique Cast Iron Figural Shutter Dog vintage pencil sketch The handle measures approximately 1"I 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