Chameleon? Antique Animal Shaped West African Ashanti Weight hand-sewn which also reminds me of

which also reminds me of those old mystery boxes where one sticks one's hand inside and feels around at some unknown thing

I really like the graphic quality of the big red EGLANTINE across one side of this old wooden box

a few small nails on the top perimeter are missing

Wonderful for serving nuts

With beautifully aged red white and blue paint

Chameleon? Antique Animal Shaped West African Ashanti Weight hand-sewn which also reminds me ofTiny, but really wonderful, I believe this is a Akan (now Ghana) West African Ashnati weigh, used to for measuring out gold and gold dust, usually for trade. These weights, frequently figural and often in the shape of animals, were typically made of brass, as I believe this one is, cast using the lost wax method. I am tempted to say, with its large eye and coiled tail, that this one is meant to represent a chameleon, but I am not completely certain.