🐓 Vintage Handcrafted Metal Rooster Sculpture (c.1950s–1970s)
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A delicately wrought piece of mid-century folk art charm
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Bring a touch of mid-century character and handcrafted artistry into your home with this beautifully detailed vintage metal rooster sculpture, standing at approximately 13cm tall and showing all the hallmarks of traditional South Asian and Southeast Asian sheet-metal craft. Lightweight, malleable, and exquisitely textured, this expressive little rooster is a celebration of true handmade skill — the kind of object that instantly adds personality, history, and warmth to any interior.
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✨ A Rooster with Presence
Despite his modest size, this rooster has extraordinary presence. Every feather is individually incised, catching the light with those fine, rhythmic engravings that were painstakingly tooled by hand. His posture is lively and alert — chest forward, comb held proudly aloft, tail feathers dramatically arched as though caught mid-strut. It feels almost animated, a moment of barnyard theatre captured in metal.
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✨ Lightweight Sheet-Metal Craftsmanship
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Made from thin, slightly flexible hand-cut metal sheets, this piece exemplifies a style of making popular in artisan markets across India, Thailand, and the Philippines during the 1950s–1970s. Craftspeople used simple tools — snips, punches, engraving burins — to create depth and movement in otherwise flat metal.
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This rooster is a brilliant example:
Feathers shaped in layered repoussé work
Striking cut-out tail feathers curled into whirls and arcs
Beautifully textured wings with fan-like detailing
Characterful head and comb with stylised mid-century flair
Slim but expressive legs ending in claws that are surprisingly detailed for such thin metal
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Its weight and feel suggest it is made from a tin/nickel-silver alloy, giving it that slightly darker, antique-metal sheen that suits vintage interiors perfectly.
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✨ Symbolism & Style
Roosters have long symbolised good fortune, protection, and new beginnings — particularly in Asian decorative traditions. In mid-century homes, pieces like this were displayed as cheerful good-luck talismans, often in kitchens or on mantlepieces where their lively forms added a playful sculptural accent.
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Today, it works beautifully as:
A quirky decorative object for shelves, sideboards, and kitchen dressers
A character piece for cottagecore, rustic, boho, or eclectic interiors
A small, meaningful gift for lovers of folk art or handcrafted vintage items
A perfect addition for collectors of animal figures, roosters, or mid-century curios
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✨ Condition
This vintage rooster is in lovely condition with age-appropriate patina that enhances its charm. The metal remains nicely shaped and retains good detail throughout. As with all handmade items of this era, tiny quirks and irregularities are part of its appeal.
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✨ Measurements
Height: approx. 13cm
Length (beak to tail): approx. 9–10cm
Material: lightweight malleable metal (tin / nickel silver alloy)
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✨ A Perfect Objet d’Art
This is the kind of decorative piece that instantly feels like it has a story to tell — a small but expressive work of handcraft that carries its mid-century heritage with charm. A lovely, unusual character addition to the Objet d’Art Stuff curated collection.
