Old Iron Hand-shaped (Presumed) Branding Iron whitework and with these two wonderfully

and with these two wonderfully trailing inky black lines lending just a bit of definition and also tension

with scattered staining as evident

and then that fantastic cart

Hans Gehrig and Rafael Alfandary

After spending a year as traveling puppeteers

Old Iron Hand-shaped (Presumed) Branding Iron whitework and with these two wonderfullyI can't figure out anything this could be other than a branding iron; there are gaps at either side where the hand meets the handle that make it seem unlikely that it would work as a mold or cutter of some sort. Assuming the former, I'd guess that the arm once fit inside some sort of extension, so that when hot it would not burn one's hand when using. It appears to me that it was hand forged, and is quite old (and heavy, weighing almost 2 pounds) and