Pelican

A bird with a long, heavy beak resting on its breast: upright body, neck drawn in, wings flat against the body. The form suggests a pelican.

The beak is long, broad and flat and lies along its full length on the breast — exactly the pose a pelican takes when it is doing nothing. Head and neck are drawn together into one line, the wings are suggested only as flat attachments, the feet merge with the base. A reduced, stylised form, not a natural-history model.

The figure carries no mark and no designation. That it is a pelican I read off the beak and the pose — a marabou would come close to the form. It is not certain, and that is why it is put this way here and not as a fact.

Solid brass, cast, dark patinated. On the ridge of the beak and at the shoulders the patina is worn bright — where a figure gets handled. Anyone wanting an even tone polishes it; most leave the grown surface as it is.

There is no photograph with a tape measure for this figure. It stands on a table top and is clearly smaller than a hand span. I am not giving a figure in centimetres as long as it has not been measured — on request I will measure it.

• Solid brass, cast, dark patina
• Solid cast, distinct weight
• Standing upright, beak on the breast
• Wings laid flat, feet merging into the base
• Stylised form, not a lifelike model
• No mark or signature
• Measurement not confirmed

Good. Complete, beak tip unbroken, no cracks. Patina evenly grown, bright on the raised parts. Stands firmly.