Unusual Old Handmade Single Lead Shot Mold transfer ware child's cup conte crayon

conte crayon

I have no idea the backstory to this old handmade copper hand

15" long x 7 1/8" wide x 4" tall

and while at first I thought the central component of a weathervane

Unusual Old Handmade Single Lead Shot Mold transfer ware child's cup conte crayonThis is an unusual, handmade pine mold made to produce lead shot (musket balls?), one at a time. Relative to producing shot, much more commonly one sees antique handheld plier like molds, often producing multiples at once, quickly, which would be far more efficient in a military type situation so this seems certainly made for personal use, and while I assume for producing shot, I suppose it could have been used for a different purpose entirely (?).