Weathervanes

For those of you who would like to do more reading on weather vanes, the enclosed list of out-of-print (try the library) and in print books may prove helpful. We have also enclosed a select list of weathervane articles. Please let me know if you run across any others. 

• A.B & W.T. Westervelt, American Antique Weather Vanes: The Complete Illustrated Westervelt Catalog of 1883. New York: Dover, 1982 

• American Folk Art from the Shelburne Museum in Vermont (Catalog of the) Albright-knox Art Gallery,. Buffalo, NY, 1965 pp.20, 23-28 

• Bishop, Robert Charles, A Gallery of American Weather Vanes and Whirligigs,  New York: Dutton, 1981 or New York: Bonanza Books, Distributed by Crown, 1984, c.1981 

• Buchert, Ilse., Weathercocks and Weather Creatures: some examples of early American folk art from the collection of the Shelburne Museum. Newport R.I., Third & Elm Press, 1970 

• Burnell, Marcia, Heritage Above, A Tribute to Maine's Tradition of Weather Vanes, Down East Books, Camden Maine, 1991 

• Coolidge, John T.,Weather Vanities, Milton, MA, 1978  

• Crepeau, Pierre, Pointing at the Wind: The Weather Vane Collection of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Canadian Museum c. 1990  

• Fitzgerald, Ken, Weather Vanes and Whirligigs, New York: Clarkson n. Potter, 1967 

• Geismar, Tom & Kahn, Harvey, Spiritually Moving: A Collection of American Folk Art Sculpture, New York: Hacker Art Books, 1998

• Kaye, Myrna, Yankee Weather Vanes, New York, Dutton, 1975 

• Kennedy Quarterly, Volume XVI, Number 1, 18th and 19th Century Naive Art, New York: Kennedy Galleries, Inc. 1978 

• Kenneth Lynch & Sons, Weather Vanes, Canterbury, Conn, Canterbury Pub. Co., c1971, series title: Architectural handbook series 

• Klamkin, Charles, Weather Vanes: The History, Design and Manufacture of an American Folk Art, New York, Hawthorn Books, 1973 

• Messent, Claude John Wilson, The Weather Vanes of Norfolk & Norwich, Norwich, Fletcher & son, limited, 1937 

• Miller, Steve, The Art of the Weather Vane, Schiffer Publishing, Exton Penn.1984 

• Mockridge, Patricia, Weather Vanes of Great Britain, London: R. Hale, 1990 

• Needham, Albert, English Weather Vanes, These Stories and Legends from Medieval to Modern Times. Haywards Heath, Sussex, C. Clarke, 1953 

• Reaveley, Mabel E., Weather Vane Secrets, Westford, MA. 1984 

• Whirligigs & Weather Vanes: Contemporary Sculpture Whirligigs & Weather Vanes: Contemporary Sculpture. Eugene OR: Visual Arts Resources 1994 

• This article appears in the July 2005 issue of Maine Antique Digest and tells of the recovery of a stolen Angel Gabriel weathervane valued at between $200,000-$300,000. If you are interested, here is a link to the article: Stolen Angel Gabriel article

• The Old & Sold Antiques and Marketplace has a interesting article on antique weathervanes that was originally published in 1963 by Clifford Wayne entitled "Weathervane Whimsy". Here is a link if you'd like to read it: Weathervane Whimsy - Old And Sold Antiques Auction & Marketplace

• There is a brief article in House Beautiful Magazine that talks a bit about weathervane collectors. A copy of the article can be found at: House Beautiful: Antiques - Weather Vane Collectors

• For an excellent definition of the word "weather vane", follow this link to the Word IQ database: Definition of Weather vane

• Below is a link to a fairly in depth article that appeared online in February 2004 on the NY-PA Collector website. The article was written by Joseph J. and Diane S. Devanney and originally appeared in the American Folk Art Museum magazine. The article is titled “Weathervanes: Necessity Becomes Pricey Collectible“.Here is a link: American Folk Art Museum, The Journal of Antiques & Collectibles, Feature Article, January 2002

• This article highlights the sale of an original Cushings and White Fire Engine and Driver weather vane that sold recently for $225,000. Here is a link to the article which originally appeared in the Maine Antique Digest. The article was written by Clayton Pennington. Here is the link: Cushing & White Weathervane Sells for $222,500

• Another article appeared recently (February 2004) in the Maine Antique Digest regarding the sale of an Uncas weathervane to a prominent private collector. The sale, which generated $205,000 for The Grange in Butternuts, NY, was not without controversy. If you’d like to know more, click here: Sorrow in Butternuts When Grange Sells Historic Weathervane

• Yet another interesting article from Art New (October 2002), written by Aneli Rufus, titled “Out of the Attic”, describes the increasing value of American Folk Art among art collectors. It specifically addresses the sale of a Squirrel weather vane at Christies Auction House that sold in January 2001 for $292,000. To read the article, click here: Out of the Attic: American Folk Art is coming into its own.

• This link takes you to an article that describes American Folk Art, especially weathervanes, as a sound financial investment. To read more, click on the following link: Three guesses for collectibles well worth buying