Ivorian Figure or Gold Weight Depicting a Crocodile

Slim reptile whose tail curls under like a handle.

This bronze gold weight depicting a crocodile dates to the 20th century. It is ivory coast, west africa. Gold weights were generally made by the lost-wax method, in which a wax model is covered in clay and replaced by molten metal, so each one is cast individually. Long, narrow body with a pointed head, tiny round eye and four thin splayed legs. The tail loops back toward the body in a tight curve. Dark brown to black surface with a finely scaled texture. It is 2.25 inches wide, 6.5 deep and 0.5 high.

Sleek, low and entirely devoted to its own curve.