Is this metal duck a ...hood ornament?

You're right. Now what?

 

I like this duck! Maybe try an image search of the duck with the letter/numbers that are on the bottom of this?

 

Decorative handle such as for cabinet door, faucet, cane, etc.

 

It looks to me like it was made for a boat.

 

Thanks for all the responses. I actually wondered about boat -- but may never nail this down definitively. (Cx, thanks for the google image suggestion, I haven't tried that but might.)

It feels like something that was meant to be outdoors but could be wrong, its only 3.5 inches long and weighs half a pound.

It has kind of a 50's feel to me, just the way the duck is stylized.

Thank you all for taking a look!

 

Great idea!!!
~
And even if for a boat, as an option, still smacks of past stock JC Whitney to me.

 

I forgot to ask what those numbers letters are!
I couldn't decipher them all when I first saw it.
What are they?

 

It looks like "171" and then "B". (But the "B" is upside down relative to the numbers if I'm reading the numbers correctly.)

 

That was what I found weird.
Maybe it was added later because they goofed up and made another item with the same stock #.

 

Looks like spelter which suffers greatly in a fresh or salt marine environment so nautical would be very low on my own list of possibilities anyway.

The mold or pattern numbers on it are usually meaningless outside of the particular foundry that was casting these.

 

The shape of the base and the way it was meant to be screwed on points in that direction. Spelter or porcelain for that matter

 

Maybe it had a bottle opener in the bottom similar to this.

 

That sure is is possible.
Had I a boat I would clean the casting up, seal it, and mount it on the bow...or somewhere apropos.
Even on rat rod would be apropos.