Vintage Cast Iron Sitting Pig Doorstop in Cream with Black Spots

This little pig has the look of someone who knows exactly where the biscuits are kept. He sits up on a green grassy mound with his ears pricked and a lopsided smile, cream all over with black spots, a black snout and bright little eyes, and he seems very pleased to have been put in charge of the door.

He is solid cast iron and painted by hand, and his base is cleverer than it first looks. At the front it is moulded with a scallop shell motif, while at the back it runs out into a flat wedge that slides under the door itself, so he holds it in place rather than simply leaning against it. He measures 11cm by 9.5cm by 9cm, a nicely small size for a cottage door or a narrow hallway.

Cast iron doorstops were made for British homes in great numbers from the Victorian era onwards, and farmyard animals were always among the favourites. A pig brings a bit of good humour to a room, and this one has plenty to spare.

We will be honest: he has been well loved. The paint is chipped in places, with patches of the green worn through to the iron on the base, rust along the bottom edge and on the wedge, and a few freckles of rust across his back. On a pig with spots it is hard to tell where the pattern ends and the history begins, and we think it suits him.

Put him at the kitchen door, stand him on a shelf among the cookery books, or give him to anyone who keeps pigs, loves pigs or simply needs a doorstop with a smile.