Pewter Whatzit

[snaps]

Hi,
its shaped like a duck but I think iit's
a dog I see lil front paws and a ffloppy ear
It's hollow an a inch long and high.
thanks for any help. Joey

 

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[nhbenz]

A seal pup perhaps?

 

[DCMatt]

Is that a petrified marshmallow with it?

Post a few other angles of the piece with something in the pic for size reference.

DCMatt

 

[J.Cohoon04]

It looks like you found a pipe bowl of some sort.

 

[snaps]

Is that a petrified marshmallow with it?

Post a few other angles of the piece with something in the pic for size reference.

DCMatt

Hey Matt,
petrified marshmallow? Nice one. It's a solid base
civil war bullet-wait a minute, your in Herndon?
No Excuse! LOL. Here's some better pics! Joey

 

[snaps]

Josh an Katie ,
It only has one hole in it like a tiny bottle
The other hole is from damage

 

[J.Cohoon04]

Now that you say that, and with the new pics, it looks like a statue piece

 

[BosnMate]

It seems to me, back before everything was plastic, there was a kids toy bird whistle. You put water in it, and blew through a stem and it sort of warbled like a bird. No doubt intended to drive adults crazy. That's all I remember, not what it was made from, just that the bird part looked a lot like that, and I would never have remembered it had I not seen this picture.

 

[Charles Prentice]

Is the hole threaded??

 

[snaps]

You know, it does look like a baby seal!

 

[snaps]

Charles,
No there's no threads

 

[snaps]

Bosnmate,
That's cool that it sparked a distant memory
I wonder if the whistles were bird figures.
If it didn't have a hole in it I'd fill it full of
Water a see what noise it makes!

 

[BosnMate]

Yeah, the bird part looked like that, and it had a wood or reed stem that fit into the bird, and when it was blown, the air bubbled the water so it sounded a lot like a bird. Without the water it was just a high pitched whistle. I really don't remember that much about it, except the bird looked like your find.

 

[BosnMate]

Here is a photo of one that dates probably back to my era. It's not lead or pewter, but not plastic either, unless celluloid is plastic.

And here is a link to a lead one on T Net back in March of 2011:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/what/228978-duck-goose-pheasant-bird.html

 

[DCMatt]

Bosnmate is right on. Bird whistle (with Civil War era petrified marshmallow).

Here is one on ebay (sans marshmallow):


DCMatt

 

[Silver Searcher]

It's the top of a walking cane....

SS

 

[462]

If you turn it this way it looks like a dog head.



The one thing that makes me think it's not a bird whistle is that it's not flat on the bottom, so if you set it down the water would run out. Just my thoughts, debate welcome!

 

[nhbenz]

Good job 462! That orients it correctly to be a cane topper as well, which I'd previously discounted for that reason.
I know it seems small, but if a pencil fits snug inside of it, that is the size of many "carnival canes" from many years ago.

 

[cw0909]

nhbenz, is correct its the top of a carnival cane, there was a similar one, posted a couple of yrs ago
i couldnt find it, here is a one on bay, not quite like yours but i think the same metal, i reread
yours is pewter, bay is bronze


Antique Spelter Dog Head Handle Carnival Walking Stick Cane Bamboo | eBay

 

[Breezie]

I agree it is a dog head cane topper, and if it is as small as it looks, it's probably a ladies cane.

Matt, I dug one of those Civil War Marshmallows one time, it appeared to have some chocolate & Graham Cracker stuck to it!

Nice find,
Breezie