OAK LEAF WEATHERVANE

Our Oak Leaf Weathervane looks very natural silhouetted against the sky, if a trifle large than its real brethren! This particular weathervane is based on the leaves of a Northern Red Oak, but because we specialize in custom copper weathervanes, we can easily adapt the design to reflect the leaves and nuts of a Live Oak (Quercus Virginiana), the Pin Oak (Quercus palustris), or the White Oak (Quercus Alba) to name but a few. In fact, if you have a favorite tree of any kind, we can work with you to create a weathervane based on its attributes!

 

The Oak Leaf weathervane sculpture piece comes either in all copper or a combination of a copper leaf with a copper and brass nut. Many of our customers opt for optional gold leaf on either the cap or body of the nut and/or gilded veins in the leaf (see photo). The combination of the copper and gold leaf makes a nice contrast as the copper moves through the patina process, first turning a deep chocolate brown color and then eventually green (like the Statue of Liberty).

 

In Celtic mythology, the oak is the tree of doors, believed to be a gateway between worlds, or a place where portals could be erected. In Norse mythology, the oak was sacred to the thunder god, Thor. Some scholars speculate that this is because the oak, as the largest tree in northern Europe, was the one most often struck by lightning. In Classical mythology, the oak was a symbol of Zeus and his sacred tree.

Click on thumbnail above  for  larger image

 

We offer several other weathervanes in which Oaks and Acorns play a part. You might also like to check out our Squirrel with Nut weathervane and our Oak Leaf Banner weathervane.

 

An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus, of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus. The genus is native to the northern hemisphere, and includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cold latitudes to tropical Asia and the Americas.

 

Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with a lobed margin in many species; some have serrated leaves or entire leaves with a smooth margin. The flowers are catkins, produced in spring. The fruit is a nut called an acorn, borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule; each acorn contains one seed (rarely two or three) and takes 6–18 months to mature, depending on species. The live oaks are distinguished for being evergreen, but are not actually a distinct group and instead dispersed across the genus.