Gorgeous, Very Old Hand-tooled Leather Chain with Wooden End Piece antique cast bronze box with a handwritten note above

with a handwritten note above that is a bit hard to read

Reynolds it looks to me--gathering and arranging  these shells in order to draw them

8 3/4" when not

beautfully arching arm and wonderful bulb-like form carved at the end of the strait handle

But really

Gorgeous, Very Old Hand-tooled Leather Chain with Wooden End Piece antique cast bronze box with a handwritten note aboveI'd guess this beautiful hand tooled leather chain of sorts was once part of some sort of animal harness, but I'm not completely certain. I spotted it hanging straight down from a wall hook at an antique show in Connecticut this past weekend and thought it was just an absolutely gorgeous, super viscerally satisfying thing. The leather is hardened and nearly black, with an almost tar like crackled surface, with each link in the chain slightly wider