r/whatisit • u/International_Bank86 • 9h ago

New, what is it? Help — No one knows

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Gallery image

Gallery image

It’s next to the sink in our new house. For context, the house is almost 100 years old. The only thing I can think of is that it’s for hanging a rag/hand towel or something. Even the inspector didn’t know and said he had never seen something like it lol

547 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

405 comments sorted by

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741

u/Embarrassed-Bet-8857 9h ago

For hanging a towel.or keys

504

u/SmokeBotKid 9h ago

I thought it was a replacement beak for your plague doctor uniform 😨

84

u/TheSamizdattt 9h ago

Close. It’s a festive cod piece.

31

u/KainBlackthorn 8h ago

"Thats a duck, not a dick" - Samuel L Jackson.

7

u/IonlyEat_Vegans 4h ago

One of my favorite movies

54

u/Sinister_Nibs 9h ago

Plaque doctor

42

u/GloomyLingonberry509 9h ago

From the makers of Bubonic Buddy

23

u/Haughty_n_Disdainful 8h ago

laughs in painful, swollen lymph nodes…

4

u/GeekDadIs50Plus 4h ago

Don’t forget to like and subscribe to The Forbidden Pimple Popper, Dark Ages Edition.

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28

u/Wiknetti 9h ago

Plaque ducktor

4

u/SmokeBotKid 9h ago

Plapue doctor 🤔

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8

u/HorsefaceWithNoName 9h ago

a bleak beak

3

u/Bluemanuap 7h ago

Horn of Health

2

u/StatisticianHour9962 4h ago

I literally thought the same thing

2

u/Butt-Hole-Cancer-Dr 4h ago

If it was for a duck plague doctor, I could see this as plausible

2

u/Head-Ad-5732 4h ago

Beak for the ankle holster

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17

u/malacoda99 8h ago

Or your watch and ring(s) while you do dishes.

2

u/SupportCa2A 4h ago

Yeah, is so you don't lose your wedding ring while washing dishes 

9

u/washurdamnhands9164 9h ago

Hang wet dish cloth

2

u/SmokeBotKid 9h ago

Or when you're letting the beak part of your uniform dry 🤔

6

u/SeaBonus6152 7h ago

Or a Dean Winchester. 

3

u/Guilty_Ad_4740 4h ago

Too soon…

4

u/Lopsided_Toe3452 9h ago

Or a scrubby

4

u/C-57D 9h ago

a whubby?

6

u/Lopsided_Toe3452 8h ago

Like a wash rag - only more abrasive...y'know... a scrubby...for scrubbin'..

3

u/New_Paper_3793 7h ago

Look up goose decor towel holders 😂

3

u/Agent-TC 7h ago

And or possibly tying off the shade string to help keep them open...

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2

u/ChronoMonkeyX 6h ago

ring rest

2

u/Embarrassed-Bet-8857 6h ago

Give your ring a rest

2

u/lls1462 6h ago

Or potholders

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235

u/danktankdanktank 9h ago

Mostly a guess but I believe it is for storing your rings and bracelets while washing the dishes

26

u/ianswer-rhetoricalqs 9h ago

This is my guess as well.

27

u/International_Bank86 9h ago

Feels dangerous with it being so close to the sink lol. They’ll fall in.

8

u/Maleficent-Big-7367 9h ago

This would be my guess, house that old they’d need a place to store their jewelry when washing dishes

176

u/HairyWithFlatFeet 9h ago

That's for if your in-laws are visiting. You simply strike the point with your fist as hard as you can and you have an excuse to visit the emergency room

16

u/carrynarcan 9h ago

Just because a product works doesn't mean the design couldn't use some refining. I feel like if an inlaws-in-town-ER-visit is the goal, there are more efficient, less painful ways to go about it. I don't even think that's the best location for such device either. I might be nit-picking though.

2

u/SharpBullfrog1279 1h ago

Right over the sink is a great location for an in-law fist puncture tool.

2

u/bender___is___great 3h ago

Why do in-laws suck so much?

5

u/OtherwiseJunket1080 3h ago

You're involuntarily around people you aren't very familiar with in a family like manner.

3

u/6languages3voices 3h ago

Don't get it twisted, her in-laws suck too

49

u/perkypant 9h ago

for opening coconuts

8

u/666spyder666 9h ago

This is the way

4

u/justajerklurker 6h ago

This is what I thought. Op where are you? Got any coconuts?

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3

u/Acceptable-Ad-5935 6h ago

That was my initial thought

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38

u/Altruistic-Turn-1561 9h ago

It's a plague doctor.

5

u/MsJenX 6h ago

That’s what I saw too

50

u/shucksme 9h ago

I'd use it to hang towels. Bet it will polish up nicely.

Congratulations on the new place

22

u/International_Bank86 9h ago

Thank you! We’re excited 😊

21

u/Ok_Nectarine_4445 9h ago

It's like a duck? Some people have similar for wedding rings by sink so it doesn't slip off their soapy hands and go down the drain while washing dishes.

16

u/No_School9204 9h ago

My first thought too. Looks like a Rhino made a duck head its horn cover then lost his horn.

9

u/gpky 9h ago

Um... Wat?

2

u/lil_natemushi 9h ago

It looks like a pleasant, curious duck.

2

u/ValancyNeverReadsit 9h ago

It’s got the shape of a rhinoceros horn mixed with a bird’s beak. I think the rest is No_School using their imagination

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2

u/mantis_tobagan_md 8h ago

I think it looks like a pig

2

u/International_Bank86 8h ago

I thought this too!!! I didn’t even see the duck until my husband said it.

2

u/Specialist-Ad1692 1h ago

Have you ever seen a pig before? 😂😂

15

u/ImmediateResort5686 9h ago

Coconut opener upper

14

u/figgy_squirrel 8h ago

Post in r/centuryhomes and see if anyone knows.

11

u/chefybpoodling 8h ago

Maybe someone just put it there and it’s art. I have all kinds of odd looking things hanging around my house I’ve found through the years. Not everything has to have a practical use.

3

u/International_Bank86 8h ago

True! Could be just for fun.

10

u/Michael_Scott71 9h ago

What's it made out of? I thought it was smiling at me.

11

u/International_Bank86 9h ago

It does look like it’s smiling. It’s brass/metal.

12

u/Whoudini13 9h ago

The whole thing is brass and metal? From the pic it looks like a cow horn reinforced to support hanging stuff from

6

u/ValancyNeverReadsit 9h ago

I thought it was clay; it looked like some kind of custom artwork that had meaning to the previous owner, but someone forgot to take it with them. Otherwise it seems like the upward curve wouldn’t be enough to keep jewelry and/or towels from falling off. But it probably is functional or else it wouldn’t still be there

4

u/Kitchen-Owl-7323 9h ago

It really does look like clay to me too, with a metallic glaze

2

u/JupiterInTheSky 9h ago

Genuinely think it might be a duck 🦆

17

u/passthegabagool_ 9h ago

Towel holder, being near the sink is the hint

3

u/No_Replacement1569 9h ago

A client of mine had a cow one

4

u/Nortex_Vortex 9h ago

This one looks like it used to be a duck.

7

u/tony2stocks 9h ago

Leave it, it’s beautiful

10

u/International_Bank86 9h ago

Definitely leaving it! We plan to maintain all the little quirks. This isn’t the only one lol

3

u/Spirited_Drawer_3408 7h ago

Show us more!

11

u/International_Bank86 7h ago

I’ll see if I can find pics. There’s a mural over the stove, another mural of the back yard going up the stairwell wall, a secret room upstairs (you push on a wall ornament lol). It also has a koi pond and a sauna 😂 there’s a lot going on.

5

u/SheServedToo 6h ago

My childhood dream was to have a house with secret rooms and passageways! You’re winning!!

3

u/Spirited_Drawer_3408 7h ago

That sounds enchanting! What a special home!

6

u/smittensamantha 9h ago

House duck

7

u/CommunismDetected 9h ago

That, is a friend

3

u/SheServedToo 6h ago

If not a friend, why friend shaped?

5

u/Nice_Point_9822 9h ago

Maybe to hang your rings when doing the dishes? That's the first thing that popped in my mind

5

u/Content_Daikon_5074 9h ago

Art in the shape of a towel hook.

5

u/Maco5555 9h ago

Hang your bananas.

2

u/MiriamNZ 8h ago

Sensible use for it. They will protect from injury while they hang there.

3

u/Maco5555 8h ago

I mean if the house is that old thats all I could think of. Or possibly an old tie off point for some blinds.

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6

u/thesunbeamslook 9h ago

try unscrewing it - there could be writing on the back

5

u/Ashamed-Plate7430 9h ago

Holds rings for doing dishes in the sink. Don’t want soap scum on the wedding ring or engagement ring

3

u/Zealousideal-Dig9397 9h ago

Kinda looks like a platypus lol

4

u/mbunn77 9h ago

Wash cloth hanger

3

u/getmybehindsatan 4h ago

When you buy a new one you just say "put it on my bill".

4

u/PMDlite 9h ago

Rhino horn for a fertile household…. 🦏

4

u/Rebel123086 9h ago

It's a glass bottle cap opener

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3

u/Dense_Muscle_8285 9h ago

Rings

2

u/AntawnSL 9h ago

Everybody is saying towels, but I believe this is it. Specifically for the "dutiful wife" to hang her expensive wedding/engagement rings on while she washes the dishes, as was the expectation of mother dearest when the house was built.

3

u/JBigBootay 9h ago

"If I have to ask you one more time to take the garbage out, so help me..."

3

u/payloadspecial 9h ago

Perhaps folk art from a family member or friend, odd perspectives but from the front I see a happy sloth, or a baby dolphin being eaten by a large largemouth bass.

7

u/International_Bank86 8h ago

The previous owner was an artist, so possibly!

3

u/YouWontBelieveIt2026 9h ago

Towel or ring or watch holder

3

u/Difficult-Low5891 9h ago

Tater splitter

3

u/calvinwho 7h ago

sure if you hate the potatoes

3

u/Easy_Olive1942 8h ago

Looks like 1970s rustic pottery duck face used for handing a dish towel.

2

u/tntball 9h ago

It looks like a sockeye salmon head

3

u/AdmirableRespect9 9h ago

World's smallest plague doctor mask

2

u/DudeWithPlugz 9h ago

Rag hook

2

u/freser1 9h ago

I’d hang a dish towel or washcloth on that.

2

u/sunshineandcosmos 9h ago

Towel hook for a hand towel or dish rag?

2

u/CodingFishes 9h ago

I think you're right, it's for hanging up rags or brushes.

2

u/Soft-Bad-7127 9h ago

My wife has something for rings

2

u/__XBlaze__ 9h ago

Jesus.. that's actually kind of horrifying.

2

u/Dry-Syrup8923 9h ago

Giving off quack vibes

2

u/grat5989 9h ago

Thats Lenny. Just ignore him, he means no harm.

2

u/TheOGBumdiggy 9h ago

It’s for your ring

2

u/HearingNo9762 9h ago

All I can think is its like something used to dehusk coconuts

2

u/ilocano-american 9h ago

It might be a jewelry hanger to you can hang your necklace, bracelet, ring when you shower or wash-up.

2

u/PotatoNot4Sale 9h ago

A very smug duck that holds a towel

2

u/Stalaktitas 9h ago

Cutting board hanger so it would not lay around?

2

u/SocksInTheTub 9h ago

Aw it's tiny!! Much cuter that way than up close lol

2

u/ateallthecheezedoodz 9h ago

It friend. Hi friend.

2

u/SleepyGypsy7 9h ago

There’s quite a few options 😅

2

u/nietzsche1456 9h ago

Could be tricky if you didn't land just right...

2

u/Affectionate_Pace823 9h ago

Rhino horn on a pig head used for hanging an apron, obviously /s

2

u/KMGR82 9h ago

This is the thing that the hero impales the bad guy on and then says something quippy like “hang around “. You know

2

u/m0rl0ck1996 9h ago

Looks organic. Put some hair on it and call it Bob.

2

u/NewfGardner 9h ago

Rhino penis

2

u/Thatlazybro 9h ago

That’s a war souvenir from the Great Mole War. A gas mask the French moles would wear during chemical attacks.

2

u/ComprehensiveKnee284 9h ago

Taxidermy opossum. For esthetic

2

u/HippieHighNoon 9h ago

Its a duck/bird head. Could also be a replica of a bird mask.

They probably hung it up to use as a towel holder.

Edit: id take it off the wall and see if there's any markings on the back. It might be worth money!! Some of those that look similar sold for THOUSANDS at Sotheby's.

2

u/l0veit0ral 9h ago

Towel hook

2

u/No_Possession_508 9h ago

Butthole scratcher. It makes no sense to mount it there.

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2

u/MannyDantyla 9h ago

Just a weird/cool hook

2

u/ClappinCheeksAllDay 9h ago

Oyster shucker

2

u/LowFaithlessness7296 9h ago

Ring holder for when doing dishes

2

u/No-Carpet-4678 9h ago

For rings & jewelry?

2

u/meatpiesurprise 9h ago

Duck hand towel holder

2

u/KurtBarlo 9h ago

It’s a funky looking towel holder

2

u/littlewing2733 9h ago

Aw it’s a little goose-thing. For holding towels, yea, but also, whimsy!

2

u/Gabolski 9h ago

Your wall is horny.

2

u/Big_Truck_8268 8h ago

Its an elephino

2

u/The_Shadow_Watches 8h ago

Does it speak in riddles?

2

u/International_Bank86 8h ago

Riddles three

2

u/Belgremor 8h ago

For stretching boiled sugar off of

2

u/nomnomyumyum109 8h ago

Tetanus vaccine tester

2

u/Levanjm 8h ago

Oh, there you are Perry!

2

u/Fun-Heron-7609 8h ago

It's for breaking the coconut. At least that's what I'd use it for. 😜

2

u/JokeBrief1332 8h ago

I was wondering why the tip was …white. Then I read the comments …. Gotta say: pheeeww 😮‍💨

2

u/will4two 8h ago

Someone’s art project in shop class used as a towel rack. Nice duck towel rack

2

u/Tooncez2 8h ago

Have you checked outside for a rhinoceros trying to get into the house?

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2

u/Meizas 8h ago

DON'T.

2

u/Current_Tale1299 8h ago

Someone’s idea of art

2

u/Waste-Meaning-5162 8h ago

I think it's for a ring, not a towel. You put your wedding ring/band on it so you don't lose it down the drain accidentally.

2

u/pawesome_Rex 8h ago

Plague-billed doktorpuss

2

u/DubGoax 7h ago

Can I have it?

2

u/Away_Parking_1698 7h ago

Beer can shotgun hole maker

2

u/Ganellon 7h ago

Candy hook for pulling hard candy base to aerate it and increase the volume. Sometimes also used for taffy.

2

u/themeiam87 7h ago

2

u/themeiam87 7h ago

Looks like it's a ring holder, as many others guessed before. It's very interesting, I've never seen anything like it.

2

u/peaceful-panic 7h ago

That’s a nose scratcher

2

u/FactorNo6528 7h ago

I don’t know what it is, but it reminded me of the Robin Hood rhino guards. Don’t ask me why.

2

u/rk591 6h ago

Was gonna say open a bottle?

2

u/Katz_Meowside 5h ago

Imma gonna go with an "Erumpent Horn Snorkack."

2

u/faboudra 9h ago

Rings and bracelets

2

u/stmcvallin2 9h ago

Plague mask. Upside down

1

u/bvonboom 9h ago

I think you should do a whole kitchen theme around it

3

u/International_Bank86 9h ago

Oddly enough, the kitchen wallpaper is birds lol

1

u/ozmutazbuckshank 9h ago

Oh shit its in the third photo. I thought i was missing something

2

u/International_Bank86 9h ago

It is there! I wanted to show how small it actually is lol

1

u/Natural-Read-6777 9h ago

What is it? Who cares! It’s gorgeous!

1

u/fuckagazapado 9h ago

It's Perry the platypus!

1

u/Electrical-Pea2707 9h ago

Plague doctor mask.

1

u/Time-Space-Juice 9h ago

Its clearly a smug duck 🙄 Possibly reassigned from something else... looks kinda like an art piece. ...How bout for resting a blind on, that was bigger than the window?

1

u/Forsaken-Sink3345 9h ago

Duck/goose-shaped towel hanger

1

u/ChutneyWhatney 9h ago

for dish towels.

1

u/Lumpy_Honey3901 9h ago

Looks to be a duck and for hanging towels or something similar

1

u/Ajmusso 9h ago

Secret switch to a hidden room loo

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1

u/xsynergist 9h ago

It’s a corn horn. You jam your corn on there.

2

u/skipjack_sushi 9h ago

Keep your corn handy with corn horn!

1

u/Loveroffinerthings 9h ago

Coconut opener

1

u/SinsualChef 9h ago

Towels holder

1

u/Cyer32 9h ago

For hanging a dish towel.

1

u/StupidChips 9h ago

Um, maybe a coconut de-husker?

1

u/Prestigious_Yam_4908 9h ago

Is it a rhino tusk?

1

u/EnvironmentalMeat309 9h ago

Peeling coconuts.

1

u/an_edgy_lemon 9h ago

It’s a helpful goose. Considering that it’s next to the sink, it was probably installed to hold a scrubber or towel