The Big Talker — Brass Toucan

A toucan cast in solid brass, small enough to close your hand around — bill tipped up, feet gripping a stub of branch, every feather scored into the wing and breast. A single blue stone is set for the eye, the one spot of colour on the whole piece. The antique patina has settled into the etched lines and left the high points bright, so the bird catches light the way a real one does. It's a little heavier than it looks.

Toucans are the loud ones of the canopy — that outsized bill carries their call further than almost any other bird in the forest, and across the tropics they've long been read as messengers and showmen, the birds that announce things. A good desk companion for the person who holds the room: the great talker, the storyteller, the friend who calls just to talk. Small enough for a shelf edge, a windowsill, or the corner of a desk that needs one bright thing on it.

Approx. 1.7 in tall × 1.4 in wide (4.2 × 3.6 cm) · 46 g · Solid brass with a set blue stone eye · Antique brass patina · Made in China