Antique Iron Tassel-Shaped Gate Weight letter with drawing 3" in diameter

3" in diameter

long after it was painted (oil on linen)

making a quick 5 minute loop around the shop and grabbing it--not knowing what it was but thinking is was a fabulous

which I love for their forms as well as for their transfer decoration

I believe this mouse is quite old

Antique Iron Tassel-Shaped Gate Weight letter with drawing 3" in diameterI think old cast iron gate weights are excellent objects and a fun thing to collect, with a lot of variety to tassel shaped ones of this sort; I believe this one probably 3rd quarter 19th century. A weight like this would have been hung from from a chain, most commonly on a garden gate, functioning as a counterweight to make the gate close on its own. The transformation of the form of a silk curtain tassel into a solid iron one makes it feel like