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ARCHITECTURAL INSPIRATION
- October 2007 |
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West Coast Weather Vanes has been
featured in a new publication called:
Architectural
Inspiration
Styles, Details and Sources
by
Richard Skinulis and
Peter Christopher
|
This exceptional style and
source guide is the first book to examine residential architecture and design
elements from both creative and practical perspectives. It is also the first to
include extensive North American sources for high-end, custom and hard-to-find
materials and services.
Boston Mills Press
8 X 8,
hardcover with jacket
 9781550464689
$79.95
CDN
$79.95
US
Subject:
Art & Antiques |
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WASHINGTON POST
- July 2007 |
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Article in Washington Post
featuring West Coast Weather Vanes:
Charm From Any Direction
By Terri
Sapienza /
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Long ago, weather vanes were utilitarian objects,
used by farmers to forecast weather conditions. Now they are sought after for
their decorative appeal and as prized collector's items. Last fall, a 62-inch
antique Indian chief weather vane sold at Sotheby's for $5.84 million.
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ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST-
June 2006 |
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Copper and gold leafed
Red-Shouldered Hawk weathervane featured in the
June 2006 Architectural Digest's
Editors Present Designers' Sources
Architectural Digest Cover, Table of Contents & Story Page
Please click on the thumbnails below to view
larger image.
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Architectural Digest, June 2006
You're So Vane
Before Doppler radar and even before the
barometer, the weathervane was the surest way to forecast a change in climate.
Now the decorative finials are collected as fold art and serve a more ornamental
purpose. The ones from Ken and LizAnne Jensen's West Coast Weather Vanes
are free-form and repoussè copper, each handmade to order. The small Santa
Cruz, California, workshop has over 500 designs, and clients range from the
White House to Warner Bros. |
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Architectural Digest Cover |
Table of Contents |
Weathervane Story Page |
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WOMAN'S DAY-
August 2007 |
HOME STYLE
- 2007 |
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Woman's Day
Special Interest Publications
"Remodeling & Makeovers"
August, 2007
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Magazine, Vol. 7, 2007
Please click on the thumbnails to view larger
image.
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ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER |
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Orange County Register Weathervane Article about Weathervanes
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ANTIQUE CAR WEATHERVANE AT AUCTION |
Blowin' in the wind...
 How
much do you think the weather vane at left might be worth? It is made
out of molded copper and dates back to 1910. Pick a high number, double
it, then keep reading.
The
Lexington Historical Society owned this weather vane for years. It
used to sit upstairs at Buckman Tavern, leaning against an old bed, in
the part of the house used for storage. No one paid a great deal of
attention to it. I have been a part-time guide at the building for
several years, and have walked by it on the way to the bathroom
numberless times, usually without a second glance.
The Historical Society decided this year to
“de-accession” the weathervane from it’s collection. In other words, to
sell it. A very sensible decision, since it is not connected with the
Society's main effort, to interpret the story of April 19,1775 through
our historic houses. And the sale might generate some much need money to
help fund upcoming restoration/renovation projects.
Auctioneers at the
Skinner Auction House in Boston suggested that the weathervane might
sell for as much as 30-50 thousand dollars.
They were wrong.
The weather vane sold at auction on November
4, 2007 for $941,000. Scuttlebut has it that the buyer was Ralph
Lauren’s brother. For more info, click
HERE
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MAIN ANTIQUE DIGEST -
January 2007 |
Record Hicks Tops Christie’s
Americana Sale
Excepted from an article by
Lita Solis-Cohen
Weathervanes continued to
bring strong prices. Stephen Score paid $520,000 for a circa 1883 hollow-molded
and gilt-copper grasshopper weathervane (est. $100,000/300,000).
At the sale of the collection
of Alvin E. Friedman- Kien, most of it bought from the late legendary dealer
Adele Earnest, a collector paid $464,000 for a copper Liberty Goddess
weathervane by Cushing & White, Waltham, Massachusetts, dated 1865. The
underbidder was on the phone. Yardley, Pennsylvania, dealer C.L. Prickett paid
$168,000 for a rare mid-19th-century Huntress Diana weathervane.
2007 by
Maine Antique Digest
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MERCURY NEWS -
January 2007 |
Mercury News - January 13, 2007
Soaring Artwork
COPPER WEATHER VANES BUILT PAINSTAKINGLY BY HAND HELP BONNY DOON COUPLE CRAFT A
BUSINESS WITH GLOBAL APPEAL
By
Kim Boatman
Mercury News
News article links for this story:
San Jose Mercury news
Oakland Tribune
Tri-Valley Herald
San Mateo County Times
The Argus
The Daily Review
The Alameda Times-Star
Bay Living |
LizAnn Jensen and her husband
started West Coast Weather Vanes about 20 years ago, and how have an
international clientele, with an 18-month waiting list. (Pauline Lubens -
MediaNews staff ) |
Victor polishes
"Zeus," made from copper with some gold leaf. (Pauline Lubens - MediaNews
staff)
BONNY DOON
- Ben Begandy wields the primitive rawhide
hammer with relish, yet each blow makes its mark in the yielding copper with
surgical precision.
Here in this modest studio tucked deep in the Santa
Cruz Mountains, the steady drumbeat of hammer shaping metal signals the
continuation of an ancient art form. Here, workers turn out such artful weather
vanes that it's easy to forget these sculptural beauties serve a practical
purpose.
From their 2.2-acre patch of paradise on a hillside,
Ken and LizAnne Jensen send soaring red-shouldered hawks, lithe angels and
gape-mouthed trout around the world. Nearly 20 years after the couple started
the business, West Coast Weather Vanes boasts clients as diverse as Microsoft
co-founder Paul Allen and the Sultan of Brunei. A polo player sits astride a
galloping pony in the shop, ready for delivery to an embassy in Argentina.
``Since we don't have kids,'' LizAnne Jensen says,
``these are like our babies going out there. We're launching these into the
world.''
One of their weather vanes made an appearance at the
White House. And even though their handcrafted weather vanes can cost thousands
of dollars, the Jensens find themselves with an 18-month backlog, thanks in part
to a flurry of interest after a mention and a photo in Architectural Digest. In
other words, if you ordered a weather vane now, you'd probably receive it about
the time Republicans and Democrats are heading toward their '08 conventions.
Their challenge, in part, is to keep the business
what it is: the Jensens, three journeymen weather vane makers and an office
manager. A while back, they downsized from a bigger operation, ``raised our
prices and lowered our staff,'' Ken Jensen says.
At its simplest, this set-up wouldn't look
unfamiliar to a tinkerer from the Middle Ages or a metal worker from ancient
times. Of course, weather vanes themselves are ancient, an attempt from the
earliest ages to predict the weather by changes in wind direction.
To watch Ken Jensen or Ben or fellow journeymen
Victor, or Thomas at work is to understand how ancient artisans
created works of art with little more than primitive tools. For Jensen, it is a
self-taught skill, born when he and LizAnne fell in love with the weather vanes
they saw on their New England honeymoon. Ben, Victor and Thomas, all with
more than a decade's experience, started as apprentices.
``Nowhere else in the world will you find the
combined talent and experience,'' LizAnne Jensen says. |
 QUITE
A CATCH: Thomas works on a weather vane called "Brook Trout" in the
studio at West Coast Weather Vanes. (Pauline Lubens - MediaNews staff)
The men work from paper drawings created by LizAnne
Jensen, after consultation with a client. Many designs begin as custom requests;
West Coast will never make more than 50 of any one design. More than 600 designs
can be found on the company's Web site. A gardening angel runs $1,595 to $4,595,
depending on size; a ruby-throated hummingbird ranges from $1,095 to $3,195. A
weather vane might have as many as 75 pieces and take a month to construct.
The company also charges a design fee for custom
work.
``We can make the metal do pretty much what we
want,'' says LizAnne Jensen, pointing out the company has produced a whopping 72
different dog breeds in copper.
The weather vane makers trace the paper patterns on
sheets of pliable copper, then snip out the shape with metal cutters. They use
custom hammers to texture the surface -- thus the muscled body of the Zeus
weather vane Victor is creating. The men tap rawhide hammers to bend and shape
the metal, using anvils, oak blocks and leather sand pillows. Years of
experience and practice allow them to work the metal with stunning exactitude.
The tricky part comes when two pieces are soldered
together to make the hollow weather vanes; the pieces must match precisely
before they can be fitted. Just before the vane is finished, the makers insert a
penny for good luck -- a weather vane-making tradition. Occasionally, customers
will provide pennies with meaningful dates.
Weather vanes sometimes include gold leaf or other
metal touches. A glass eye might be soldered onto a creature.
``The way we make these is probably the most
time-consuming way you can,'' LizAnne Jensen says.
And that craftsmanship is appreciated by clients
such as Larry and Sue Graves of Ashland, Ore. The Graves first purchased a
3-foot humpback whale to grace the exterior of their Palo Alto home; when they
moved, they insisted on taking the whale with them. They also own a couple of
other West Coast weather vanes, a mother pup and her seal and a winged heart,
that are on display inside their home.
``We'd seen lots of weather vanes but never ones
that were so meticulously detailed or as beautiful,'' Larry Graves says. ``They
are of the highest quality and bring a wonderful touch to our home.''
The Jensens now find knockoffs of their designs,
such as a wine bottle and wine glasses, appearing in catalogs of mass-produced
weather vanes. It's a form of flattery they could do without. But they're
content their weather vanes will provide their own legacy. Realizing the weather
vanes are likely to become highly collectible, the couple has kept careful
records documenting each sale.
``Our business will outlive us,'' Ken Jensen says.
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ASSOCIATED PRESS -
October 2006 |
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Fashion
magnate forks over $5.8M at auction for rare antique
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
October 7, 2006
A rare molded copper Indian
chief weather vane set a record for American folk art at auction Friday when it
was purchased for $5.8 million by Jerry Lauren of the Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.
The circa 1900 weather vane was originally in the collection of Josephine and
Walter Buhl Ford II, and had adorned the roof of their white, rambling farmhouse
in Grosse Pointe, Mich., outside Detroit, Sotheby's said. Josephine Ford was the
granddaughter of the automobile baron Henry Ford.
The weather vane attracted
spirited bidding in Sotheby's Manhattan salesroom involving seven bidders until
Jerry and Susan Lauren held out with the winning bid.
"This piece is more than a
weather vane; it's a beautiful work of art," Jerry Lauren, the brother of Ralph
Lauren who is executive vice president of men's design at Polo Ralph Lauren,
said in a statement issued by Sotheby's.
The weather vane, more than 5 feet tall and attributed to the J. L. Mott Iron
Works Co., broke the record for a weather vane and also set a new high for any
piece of American folk art, said Nancy Druckman, director of Sotheby's American
Folk Art Department.
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FORTUNE -
December 2005 |
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Copper Web Winged Dragon featured in weathervane
article in Fortune Magazine Small Business Edition
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FORTUNE
-
Small Business
MY FAVORITE ...
Weathervane
From the
Dec. 2005 Issue of FSB
By
Carlye Adler
When Stephen Mascilo and Trevor Pinker, owners of the
Oxford Guesthouse, an inn in Provincetown, Mass., wanted the perfect
finishing touch for their cottage home, they called
West Coast Weather Vanes. Founded 17 years ago in Santa Cruz,
Calif., by LizAnne and Ken Jensen, the company specializes in high-end
weathervanes, all custom designed and built by hand.
The Jensens once created a
moon-and-stars pattern for the Dollywood theme park. They made a gargoyle for
The X-Files and spent four months designing 39 personalized soft-coated
wheaten terriers for a breed-appreciation club. Most weathervanes are
mass-produced overseas from molds, but the Jensens shape their copper, brass, or
nickel-silver pieces using hammers made from rolled rawhide. A basic silhouette
costs about $400, while elaborate shapes (such as the four-foot 1957 Mercedes
SL300 one customer requested) range up to $15,000.
Mascilo and Pinker wanted a
heraldic lion for the gabled roof of their cottage. They followed the tradition
of putting pennies inside their weathervane from significant years in their
lives, including the inn’s opening 11 years earlier. The engraving: “Start with
a dream and make it happen.”
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NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM
- 2005 |
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Windblown: Contemporary
American Weathervanes exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum
Exhibition Dates: July 16 - Oct 30, 2005
Norman Rockwell
Museum
9 Glendale Road
Stockbridge MA
01262
West
Coast Weather Vanes was juried into a museum show showcasing the work of
contemporary American weathervane makers. We choose one of our more whimsical
pieces to include in the show.
For the
past couple of years we have been working on a series of copper weathervanes
that depict famous characters from world literature. Children's literature, in
particular, lends itself to exploring the whimsical and playful side of this art
form.
The Dish
Running Away with the Spoon combines naivety, playfulness and a fondness for
childhood that I suspect Norman Rockwell would have liked as well.
Here is a link to a nice article regarding this
show:
Weathervane Show
Review |
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EARLY AMERICAN HOMES-
2001 |
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he craftsmen at West Coast
Weather Vanes were recognized as among the top 200 craft practitioners working
in the United States today by Early American Homes magazine, a national publication on
early American traditions, period style, architecture, antiques and history. We
are listed in the magazine's Directory of Traditional American Crafts ®, which
appears in the August 2001 issue. Now in its 15th
year, the Directory has become a source for collectors searching out fine
handcrafted objects that honor traditional American art forms.
Expert judges in museum quality
antiques and fine, high-end reproductions selected craftspeople for
quality of workmanship and fidelity to period design and construction
techniques.
West Coast Weather Vanes has
been making copper and brass weather vanes for the past twelve years and is one
of only two making them west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They have over 375
different designs, with each weather vane individually crafted without the use
of molds . These weather vanes are sold to enthusiasts all over the world.
Copper weather vanes have been
hand formed since the first century BC where the earliest documented weather
vane - a huge copper figure of the Greek sea god, Triton - was mounted atop the
Tower of Winds in Athens, Greece. A symbol of prestige and power, weather vanes
have mirrored the political history of Western Europe ever since. Weather vanes
were brought to America with the earliest colonists.
In the 1970's, people
discovered these by now neglected art forms and started to collect them as
classic examples of American Folk Art. People suddenly realized that the
old copper vane that had been sitting on top of their barn for the past century
could be worth $60,000, $80,000 or even several hundred thousand dollars.
Many were then taken down off
the structures on which they had so proudly stood for so many years and moved
inside to be displayed as examples of American folk art. When they looked around
for someone to make a replacement vane to keep the historic feel of their home,
they discovered only one or two holdovers were still making them. However, with
the increased interest and demand, a new generation of vane makers got started
in the 70's.
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Artists at West Coast Weather Vanes honored as among the top 200 craft
practitioners currently working in the United States today
Chanticleer Rooster
Traditional Banner
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ANTIQUE WEATHERVANE AUCTIONS-
2003 |
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Above is a photograph of a
Polo Horse & Rider Vane by West Coast Weather Vanes |
Recent Antique Weather Vane
Auctions
At the 2003 Winter Antiques Show in
New York, there was a notable trend towards top dollar sales for American folk
art sales. One of the most spectacular sales was a Jonathan Howard signed horse
weather vane which sold during opening night festivities for $285.000. This is
the second highest price paid for an old copper weather vane.
As an auction a year or so ago held
at Skinners Auction House in Bolton Massachusetts the Brenda and Ken Fritz
collection of American Folk Art was offered for sale. Over the past 30 years,
they assemble their collection, buying their pieces at antiques shows and from
most of the top-echelon dealers. Their collection consisted of a core of
about 100 lots, plus several groups of fabrics and reference material.
The top-priced object in the their
collection was a molded copper polo player weather vane with wonderful patina.
It went to collector Jerry Lauren, an executive in brother Ralph's fashion
empire, at $189,500.
That represents the fifth-highest
weathervane auction price ever recorded. The top three record holders were
a J. Howard & Co. horse and rider, bought by dealer Stephen Score $770,000 at
Sotheby's on January 27, 1990, $222,500 for a Cushing & White fire engine
and $203,500 spent at Skinner's on March 21, 1987 for a locomotive, bought by
dealers Margoire and David Schorsch. |
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X-FILES WEATHERVANE DEBUT
- 2000 |
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Gargoyle on the X-Files Television Program!!
If you had tuned in to the X-Files television
program on Sunday, November 19, 2000 you would have seen one of our
Gargoyle weather vanes. The episode was called "Patience" and was the fourth
installment of the season.. The show
opened with lightening flashing against a pitch black sky, illuminating
a Gargoyle weather vane perched broodingly above a rickety old farm
house. The wind started to blow and slowly turned the Gargoyle.
It's translucent red glass eye began to glow as it moved to face
the driveway. At just that moment a car slowly pulls up and a dark
figure emerges.
You'll have to catch the episode in reruns to see
what happens after that! |
Team effort by Thomas, Ben & Victor
In order to meet an extremely tight deadline, we
had to use a creative approach. Normally, one of our weather vanes is made from
start to finish by an individual craftsperson. However, it would have been
impossible to finish it in time had only one person worked on it. These senior
journeymen came in and worked evenings and an entire weekend to get the Gargoyle
done in time for shooting. |
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GIORGIO PERFUME
- 2000 |
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Exclusive new design celebrates
the illustrious career of famous perfume designer
Working with a well known Los
Angeles designer, West Coast Weather Vanes created this one-of-a kind weather
vane to grace a beautiful new structure in Southern California.
The manes and tails of both horses have been gilded
along with details on the central design element. As the copper and brass
darken, the gold should contrast beautifully with the gold leaf finish. |
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DOLLYWOOD
- 2000 |
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Dollywood Weather Vane
In
2000, Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Theme park opened the world's largest
interactive Tree house located in the Dreamland Forest area of Dollywood.
Containing over 60 rooms suspended in a tree it provides hundreds of interactive
games to appeal to children of all ages.
We were asked to create one of our
Moon & Stars weather vanes to crown the top of this wonderful new structure.
We've been told that night lights have been installed on the tower to highlight
the weather vane at night!
http://www.dollywood.com
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MILWAUKEE SYMPHONY
- 2000 |
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Swan Court - Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra League
Show House
We were
pleased to have one of our
Swan weather
vanes featured prominently as part of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra
League's premier fundraising event, The Swan Court mansion tour.
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Swan Weathervane |
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WHITEHOUSE WEATHERVANE
- 1999 |
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Ken and LizAnne Jensen go to
Washington, DC to accept honor at the White House
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Our big
news of 1999 was the invitation we received to make a small weather vane for the
end of the millennium Christmas tree at the White House.
This came
about after we were selected as one of the top two hundred traditional
craftspeople working in the United States today. Unbeknownst to us, the White
House went through that list and invited fifty craftspeople to make a piece for
this year's holiday festivities.
We were
invited to make a piece no larger that one foot in size and which weighed no
more than one pound
(a challenge when one works in metal!). It also had to represent something
of historic significance to our country.
After much debate in our studio we decided to do a
scroll of the Declaration of Independence.
Ken went to the library and made copies of the actual writing on the
document, which we blew up and used, for the lettering on the scroll. We
did the lettering in gold leaf and added an old fashioned writing quill
beneath the document with a small drop of gold "ink" suspended from the
tip. Even though the vane was made by Jeff, an extremely talented
weather vane maker in our studio, we stamped the initials of all the
vane makers on the back to represent every one currently working here
whose also made important contributions to our business. After all, we
never would have been asked to make the piece if all those who've
contributed ideas, techniques and the skill of their hands and minds had
not been working here. |
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Because
the sculpture piece we made is not really a weather vane until you add the
directionals (North, South, East & West pieces), we took the liberty of sending
along a base in case they wanted to display it after the holidays as a true
weather vane.
For us,
this was a pretty exciting honor so Ken and I decided we would pack our bags and
head to Washington DC in December to actually see the White House in all its
festive glory and our ornament in it as our Millennium gift to ourselves. We
received our official invitation for the artist's reception on December 17th and
off we went.
Detail
of our ornament mounted for display at the White House
There were 23 trees set up at the White House, all beautifully decorated
with over 1000 handcrafted ornaments. In addition to the craftspeople
invited to make a piece, the Doll Makers Association of America
contributed handmade historic dolls and the Tinsmith's Society made tin
snowflakes, drums, etc. for the trees. The White House was so lovely,
there were fires crackling in the fireplaces, 3 choirs singing holiday
songs and incredible decorations on mantels, suspended from wreathes in
windows, etc. |
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Ornament on solo display in the White House Blue Room
As we
walked from room to room, we kept looking for our piece. Someone told us that
most of the craft pieces were in the Blue Room which is the one with the curved
windows directly below the Oval Office. When we finally got to that room, we
looked every where on the tree and didn't see our piece. "Oh, great", we
thought, "We came all this way and it isn't even displayed." Just then the crowd
of artists parted (there had to be at least 300 of us) and there, beautifully
situated on the lower shelf of an antique table, was our weather vane! They
actually had it set up as a weather vane rather than just using the ornament
itself. Aside from the tree in the middle of the room, there was only this table
and one on the opposite side of the room. A woman from Pennsylvania who had made
an incredible small folk art painted wooden chest had her piece displayed there.
We were
so excited. They had decorated around it and it looked really nice. We
took some pictures and talked to a number of the artists and then just floated
out of the White House. It really ended up being a memorable occasion and
something we'll never forget. |
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WOLF TRAP PERFORMING ARTS
- 1999 |
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While we were in the Washington area, we also drove out to the Wolf Trap
Performing Arts Center where we have one of our weather vanes displayed.
It's not often we get to see our vanes in person once they have been installed
so it was a real treat to see our Wolf weather vane displayed at such a
beautiful location.
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MAINE ANTIQUE DIGEST
- 2005 |
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Second Highest
Price Ever Paid for a Copper Weathervane!
According to a recent article in the
Maine Antique Digest
a 19” full-bodied copper weathervane of the Goddess of Liberty sold at a
three-day auction in August 2005 in Manchester, New Hampshire for $424,000, the
second-highest auction price ever recorded for a weathervane!
Prior to the sale, the estimate was that it would sell for $80,000-$120,000.
Created by J.W. Fiske, it was designed to sit a top a flag pole, was painted
red, white and blue and originally sold for $25 in 1875.
For additional information, here is a link to an article describing the sale:
Goddess of Liberty weathervane sale.
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ALL DESIGNS ARE COPYRIGHTED BY WEST COAST WEATHER VANES
AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY WAY WITHOUT EXPRESS PERMISSION FROM WEST COAST
WEATHER VANES.
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