o tempora o meerkats! As a child the little painted pirate heads I only ever saw in shops on the Aberdovey sea-front somewhat fascinated me – you put them up on the wall (eg like flying ducks) but I have never discovered the proper name for the moulding or painting technique (see illustration):

Anyway this is just a cultural heads-up: in Porthmadog last week I noticed that meerkats have now entered the ‘craft figurine’ animal canon, esp. if standing in a line obv