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In April 1982, a rare Statue of Liberty weather vane, molded from gilded copper a century ago, was sold by Sotheby's for $82,500. The same day, an Angel Gabriel weather vane sold for $50,600. More recently, another specimen was auctioned for an astounding $770,000!
Today, weather vanes are considered to be classic examples of the finest in American folk art. Astute collectors have been adding them to their portfolios for the past fifty years, prizing most highly those which are both rare and individually produced. According to a folk-art expert, the late Robert Bishop, Picasso once recognized American weather vanes as an important art form.
Several methods have been employed over the years to create these charming and useful sculptures. Often, very simple vanes were whittled from wood and perhaps painted. However, because they became victims of the elements, few survive today.
More permanent versions were created by using a second method. First, a mold was carved in wood, and then a cast was made in iron. Sheets of copper were hammered into the resulting depression, forming each half of the vane. The two pieces were then soldered together to make a 3-dimensional piece. Vanes made by this method ranged from those consisting of just two pieces to complex designs with many different elements. Some of the most popular antique weather vanes available today were made this way.
A third method uses a press to stamp out large quantities of identical vanes. They may cost less, but they will never appreciate in value or become collectors' items.
The most difficult method involves hand hammering sheets of copper into shape without a mold. This "free forming" repousse process produces weather vanes that are unique in detail, finely crafted, and limited in number. For these reasons, they are highly prized by collectors. Traditionally, horses and roosters were the most widely manufactured folk art forms, with cows and eagles a close second. Pigs, rams, deer and dogs were less common subjects, and today they will often fetch prices of at least $2,500 or more. Most rare were those that portrayed a human figure or an unusual subject. Authentic versions of these can bring top dollar today. Recently, patriotic vanes have been drawing excellent prices.
Unusually large or small vanes also command the best price, as well as those that show evidence of original gold leaf along with the copper's natural turquoise oxidation. Some vanes have been pockmarked with bullet holes, testifying to a history of young boys' secret target practice!
Appreciation of American weather vanes as works of art has been
growing since the 1920's and has accelerated dramatically during the last few years. It is
the wise collector who seeks out those which are rare, well crafted and individually made.
As long as humans have farmed the land, sailed the seas and contemplated their place in nature, the wind has played a key role in their speculations. It was interpreting the wind's changing direction that helped our ancestors predict the coming weather and survive.
During the first century B.C., the earliest documented weather vane, a huge figure of the Greek sea god, Triton was mounted atop the Tower of Winds in Athens. Over time, this innovative idea of a representational wind direction indicator took on increasing popularity.
Vikings of the Ninth Century carried the weather vane along on their dangerous seafaring voyages. Located at the top of the mast, it was one of the innovations that gave the Vikings confidence in sailing out of sight of the shoreline.
At the same time, according to legend, papal decree ordered that a symbol of the rooster be mounted on every church in Christendom. Later, Renaissance nobility displayed their heraldic coats of arms on weather vanes. Following the French Revolution, common people took up this privilege of the wealthy by placing vanes on their own structures, often designing the forms to advertise their occupations.
Early American settlers adapted weather vane designs to their new land, adding wooden arrows, copper Indians, and other forms. Shem Drowne, the oldest documented weather vane maker in the U.S., created a banner-shaped vane which has stood atop Boston's Old North Church since 1740. The beautiful grasshopper vane which he personally installed on Faneuil Hall in 1742 witnessed some of the most dramatic scenes in American history, including the Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.
Before 1850, weather vanes were produced individually by skilled (or not so skilled) artisans, making them quite valuable for collectors today. Weather vane popularity peaked during the Victorian era. At that time, a number of small factories sprang up to meet the increased demand. Many of the vanes made by these companies are now considered prime collectables. Most of them went out of business by the time of the Great Depression. Interest in weather vanes revived in the 1970s and continues to
accelerate to this day. |
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