SOLD Shut Open Open, Curious and Beautiful 19th Century Lead Weighted Sign barrel and much of the tail

and much of the tail is lost

bearing lion and eagle and cat and crown and rose and red star and various logos

very well cared for and clean

the folkier and more singular the better

with the fantastically sculptural hair perhaps suggesting the latter

SOLD Shut Open Open, Curious and Beautiful 19th Century Lead Weighted Sign barrel and much of the tailA bit of a mystery, at least to me, but to my eye a wonderful and evocative one and the inked lettering spelling out Shut Open Open just makes me swoon. At first look it seemed perhaps to be a shop sign, indicating open or closed hours, but with a heavy lead weight covering almost the entirety of the back, and an eye hook at top, it must have pulled up or down, perhaps functioning as a gate or door weight, with the shut not referring to closed hours