Brass Menagerie

When Style Court, whom I hold in the highest esteem, shared her collection of small brass animals, I thought I could share my collection with you all, too. This was actually my father's collection and they always had a place on the bookshelves in the library at our old house.

Two of the brass figures are bugs, used for advertising for a pest control company. Their wings lift up to reveal a little ad. Their bodies are hollow and can store small things like paperclips, or perhaps they might have been ashtrays. The casts of the two bugs are quite detailed; the others, less so.

I also have a brass crab, which is symbolic of Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay. I can tell it's a she-crab by the mark on her underside. Male blue crabs have an apron that looks like the Washington Monument and female blue crabs have an apron shaped like the Capitol dome. Bet you didn't know that! The shell of the crab lifts off and I've stored little coral jewelry pieces in its cavity.

I also have three brass Christmas ornaments representing my favourite cities - New York, London and Paris. They're pretty heavy to hang on a fir tree, so I have them stationed on a bookcase.

Here's my little brass menagerie!