they are decorative ends for tie rods. when still in use, you can see the bolt that screws on to the end of the threaded rod. tie rods were used to hold the walls of brick buildings together - for lack of a more sophisticated explanation.

They are pretty small, but appear to be the stars that are found on the sides of old brick buildings. There is a long metal rod that would serve as part of the support of the building itself, and these were a sort of "finial" for the outside where the rod ends...but again, they are so small, I'm not sure if that's the case!

The above comments are right on the money... although Feed Stores, Tractor Stores, Gordmans and other stores sell them quite often now.

Just because you purchased it from an antique store, doesn't mean it goes back all that far! Although with their appearance, not many would ever know the difference!

Ditto the above--they're basically big decorative washers for masonry tie backs. You'll find them referred to as 'masonry stars' or 'architectural stars'. You can still buy these them new in a variety of sizes at architectural metal places like King's.

http://www.kingmetals.com/

They are big out here [Arizona] as decorative "southwest" objects. My parents have at least 15 around their home. You can find them in different sizes, colors, styles...your best bet for getting more would be any of the abovementioned comments suggestions or a flea market, if you're ever in AZ.

On the west coast, I've always heard these called "earthquake stars." Same purpose that everyone has mentioned above, but I guess people must have figured they held the buildings together in the event of a quake.

The above posters are correct...but I don't think they are old. These stars are reproduced a lot. I hope you didn't pay too much for them. I like stars...I have a few myself.

"Barn stars" are different. They are large metal stars that were put on barns for decoration.

http://www.tinntreasures.com/history_Barnstar.htm

One can find those on homes in downtown SLC, too, when homes were retrofitted in the early 20th C for earthquakes.

Masonry Stars:
http://www.adkinsantiques.com/plugins/MivaMerchants/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=04

In use:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/galechicago/162557209/in/set-72157594158907772/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photoked/473903289/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/paulpablopawel/1489950290/in/set-72157602210120884/

Thank you, everyone, mystery solved! True Blue's link to www.adkinsantiques.com clinched it ... masonry stars is exactly what they are. They're not something we have a lot of use for on the flat bald prairie of Manitoba, Canada, but now I know where to get 'em.

You can use the hole part as a candle holder too, like shown here:
http://www.happyanywhere.com/CastIronStars.htm

And you can pick up another keyword search from there:
Architectural Stars.

That brings up a lot of images on Google image search. This is a really good example of them in use:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/65215866@N00/1414641642/

They come in a variety of styles and can make wonderful wall decorations inside when clustered in groupings of various styles. STL has tons of these, and you can find them in antique stores for $2-20 each, as we're a very brick city.

http://stlouisbricks.blogspot.com/

Wood construction was actually banned for a really long time in STL city proper due to a massive fire in 1849.

http://www.ezl.com/~fireball/Disaster07.htm

Yep, they're used on the tie rods on brick buildings. The 1800s rowhouses here (Boston) often have them, and we don't have earthquakes here. They help keep the walls square so the building doesn't start to lean. The stars are just decorative, and basically bigass washers, as everyone else has said. The rowhouses across the street from me had big round rusty washers until last year or so when they did some renovations and replaced them with stars.

And Ninjas! Don't forget the Ninjas!

I see a lot of those kinds of stars at antique/flea markets as part of "primitive" decor. Maybe you could search for "primitive metal stars" on ebay?

The above posters are correct. They are from the ends of earthquake rods. If you are ever in Charleston, SC, you can see the rods that were used to pull many of the brick buildings back together after the quake in 1886 (yes, we are WAY overdue for a major quake here in South Carolina). After that, the rods and the decorative end pieces like these stars became a fashion statement of sorts and many newer buildings have similar completely decorative features (no real "rod" through the building).

Sadly, as mentioned above, your stars are most likely reproductions. Originals are MUCH more costly than a few bucks. Repros are still quite nice though and add a fabulous touch to any room since they can be found in a variety of patinas and sizes.

The 2" one could be used behind a drawer pull for decoration. I've seen a lot (LOTS) around here for a few dollars, mainly for decoration.
Of course I live in tornado country, not earthquake country.
The last time we had an earthquake around here the Mississippi flowed backwards. I doubt that the rods and stars will help much.

i have several of those. they are awesome. yes, they are decorations for the ends of something, i just cant remember what. but they are 5x from sunday awesome.

I grew up in a three-story house in a historic neighborhood in St. Louis. Our house was built in 1887 (I believe) and whenever I asked my parents why there were big stars on the sides of our house, my mom always said "it's to hold the house together during a tornado".

There is a iron works place here in Minneapolis that sells these and all sorts of newly cast iron pieces. I can't remember the name, they are right across the street from Columbia Golf course. If you are looking for a lifesize caribou or elephant sculpture or some blackface/white face Tchotchkes you'll find them there.

Every once in a while I see old buildings with those things sticking the walls. They're kind of interesting I think. I didn't realize it was to protect from earthquakes, but that seems like a quaint thing, since I wouldn't be that sure it would help all that much for that.