Vintage Cast Iron Owl Doorstop in Russet Brown with Gilt Base

This little owl has the look of someone who has seen everything and is not impressed by any of it. He is a small vintage cast iron doorstop, hand painted in warm russet brown, with tufted ears, a furrowed brow and a bright yellow beak.

Owls have been favourite subjects for cast iron doorstops since the Victorian era, loved as symbols of wisdom and as a gentle nod to the countryside. This one still carries a small paper label on his back reading FOREIGN, the mark that imported goods were required to bear when they were sold in Britain, which gives him a nice bit of history.

The casting is full of character. His speckled breast feathers are picked out in rows of tiny scallops with dots of grey and white, and his clawed feet grip a mossy green mound scattered with a grey stone and two little red toadstools. Beneath him sits a shaped plum coloured plinth with a raised leaf border picked out in gold. Behind him a flat iron wedge slides under the door, so he holds it firmly in place rather than just sitting against it.

He stands 10cm high, 7cm wide and 7cm deep including the wedge, and weighs 410g, ideal for an internal door, a cupboard or a study door that likes to swing shut. The paint shows gentle wear to the gilt and the high points, in keeping with his age.

We would put him at the foot of a bookcase, holding open the door to a study, or on a windowsill beside a pile of nature books and a jug of dried hydrangeas. He would make a lovely present for a bird lover, a teacher or anyone who collects owls.