Antique Cast Iron Figural Shutter Dog wood splitting man I'm ever on the hunt

I'm ever on the hunt for old playing cards with no indices

I'm very tempted to keep this one for myself

I've looked at some old cap guns and think it is likely a Scout Single Shot Cap Gun by Stevens dating to 1890--the profile and the patterning on the handle are a match

it is somewhat clearer in person)

with some shot marks on the top of the back

Antique Cast Iron Figural Shutter Dog wood splitting man I'm ever on the huntI didnt actually know what this was when I found it in Maine the other daybut of course I fall in love with things all the time whose original function is a mystery to me! Ive since learned, though, that it is a Shutter dog made to hold a shutter open (dog being an Old English term for fastener). This one, later 19th c. French I believe, functions like a hingethe top half can be locked in place at a 90 degree angle, which would be the shutter pinning