Rare vintage antique cast iron "match-safe" - stove fireplace wall-mounted match-holder with a wild game hunting theme - topped by a deer/Stag-head mounted between two standing 19th century huntsmen in European peasant dress - perhaps Scandinavian - Swedish, Norwegian or Finnish - or Russian in origin. Below is a game board on which is hung a hunting horn, a dead pheasant and a rabbit, and two large "game-bags", which serve as the match-holders for wooden matches. This great piece wonderful patina, with only moderate use-related wear.
Large match holders such as this one, sitting on the mantel of a fireplace or hanging on the wall next to a wood stove, held the large wooden "farmers" matches used to light the fire.
The match-holder measures 11" high by 5-1/2" wide. The back is a single piece of cast iron, to which the cast-iron match-holder baskets have been attached. The whole piece weighs 2 pound, 3 ounces.