Vintage Cast Iron Goose Doorstop with Blue Bow in Cream and Green

Every goose likes to look her best, and this one has tied on her favourite blue ribbon before taking up her post by the door. Cast in solid iron and painted by hand, she stands tall and upright on a round dark green base, her long neck curving gracefully, a golden beak held high and a powder blue bow knotted beneath her chin. Her cream feathers are flecked all over with warm rust tones, giving her a lovely speckled, almost freckled finish.

Geese wearing bows were the darlings of the country kitchen look that swept through British and American homes in the 1980s, appearing on everything from tea towels to biscuit tins, and they carry a hint of Mother Goose and the old nursery rhymes too. This one has a pleasingly simple, folk art shape, with the wing and feathers lightly modelled and the bow cast in crisp relief.

She measures 22 x 11.5 x 7 cm, tall and slim enough to tuck neatly behind a door, with the reassuring weight cast iron is valued for. The cream paint has naturally weathered with age, letting soft rusty speckles come through across the body and back, which only adds to her farmhouse charm.

Stand her by a cottage kitchen door with a basket of eggs, pair her with a stack of cookery books on a dresser shelf, or let her keep a bathroom or bedroom door ajar. She would make a lovely gift for anyone who keeps geese or ducks, a fan of country interiors, or a friend setting up a new home, and her colouring looks wonderful against duck egg blue, sage and soft cream.

She is the only goose you will ever meet who won’t chase you down the garden.