Our Toucan Weathervane was ordered by some lovely people who live in snow country, but love the toucan’s of the tropics. We think perching this guy on the globe of the vane was a wonderful idea. Its fun working with customers to make the best weather vane possible and pleasing them with the results.
This toucan is fabricated in copper in swell bodied style with taxidermy owl glass eyes and optional gold gilding to accentuate the bird’s feather markings, beak and feet.
Also sealed into this bird are ‘Lucky Pennies’ from a number of significant years in this family’s life in addition to the traditional penny from the year this sculpture was sealed.
Please note in the pictures the security device our customers requested because they live on a large northern lake that gets big winds. We hope some day to see pictures of this guy in his snowy home, defying the elements!
Our Crow Cawing Weathervane was first commissioned to top one of two cupolas on a new barn. In wanting to acknowledge the intelligence of the birds that visit their barn, these customers chose this Cawing Crow Weathervane for one cupola and the Owl of Athena Weathervane for the other. Crows have brains that are enormous relative to the size of their bodies and are known to recognize faces, and have an intellect comparable to a young child.
This copper vane is crafted in high detail, swell-bodied style. The arrow and fletching were chosen to compliment the Craftsman Style of the home and barn. Black glass was chosen for the eyes. What a great pair of sculptures to rise above this barn!
We give a 10% discount on the full order when a customer orders more than one weather vane at the same time.
Our Owl of Athena Weathervane was first commissioned to top one of two cupolas on a new barn. In wanting to acknowledge the intelligence of the birds that visit their barn, these customers chose this classic stylized representation of the Owl of Athena for one cupola and a Cawing Crow Weathervane for the other. Historically the Owl of Athena has come to be thought of as a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, perspicacity and erudition throughout the western world.
This copper vane is crafted in high detail, swell-bodied style. It is also what we refer to as a mirror image, meaning both sides are facing out. The arrow and fletching were chosen to compliment the Craftsman Style of the home and barn. Brown glass was chosen for the eyes and optional gold leafing was selected for the feet, beak, and eye ring. This sculpture piece will weather beautifully and the gilding will be a great, eye-catching contrast for many decades, as the copper becomes first brown, then darker brown, and eventually begins to show some signs of green patina.
We give a 10% discount on the full order when a customer orders more than one weather vane at the same time.
Our Blue Front Amazon Parrot Weathervane was first commissioned to commemorate a beloved parrot friend of our customer. Parrots have long lives and make great bonds. They bring such humor to their families with their imitations and joking around.
This copper representation was fabricated in the small size with the intention of being mounted indoors. Because of the indoor location we omitted the standard security device that is included in all of our ‘winged’ designs.* Be it butterfly or bi-plane, if it is winged and out in the wind, the risk exists of it being lifted up and taking flight.
For this version of the Amazon Parrot Vane our customer selected an all copper body with an eye to the future when the copper will eventually patina into the green tones. They selected red glass eyes, and optional palladium gilding on the feet and beak, with gold gilding to demarcate this parrot’s yellow face mask. These are decisions that you make at the time of your order, enabling our master artisans to create a sculpture piece that speaks to you.
July 23, 2024 we have added photos above of a new Blue Front Amazon Parrot Weathervane. It was mounted outdoors and does include the Security Device. There are also some slight changes in angles, the bird’s tail and in the texture of the feathers. Parrot weather vanes are popular and we are happy to make those little changes that make your weather vane ‘sing’ for you.
You can also send us a picture of your parrot for us to go further into the nuances of making this vane into a portrait of your bird.
If Parrots are an interest of yours we do have others, and we would be happy to discuss a parrot design you have in mind.
Our popular Seagull Landing Weathervane has been ordered for beach houses, boat yards, and as a memorial. Most have been given as gifts. This swell bodiedcopper design is fun in the way we have eliminated the arrow and fletching, having the gull appear to be landing atop a globe. For the vane pictured, our customer requested optional gold leaf gilding to the beak and feet. Others have requested more extensive gilding, into the feathers. It is lovely either way. The gull also has glass eyes. Details such as gilding, eye color, inscriptions, ‘Lucky Pennies’, and any further personalizing details to the design are decided at the time you place your order.
Most gulls belong to the large genus Larus. They are typically medium to large birds, usually grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills, and webbed feet. Gull species range in size from the Little Gull, at 120 g (4.2 oz) and 29 cm (11.5 inches), to the Great Black-backed Gull, at 1.75 kg (3.8 lbs) and 76 cm (30 inches). Most gulls, particularly Larus species, are ground nesting carnivores, which will take live food or scavenge opportunistically. The live food often includes crabs and small fish. Apart from the kittiwakes, gulls are typically coastal or inland species, rarely venturing far out to sea. The large species take up to four years to attain full adult plumage, but two years is typical for small gulls.
This Peacock with a Fan Tail garden sculpture piece was a custom order featuring gold leaf details and set in glass ‘eyes’ on each individual extended feather. Very very elegant and dramatic! This piece was amazing to craft. It is a 3D presentation crafted in copper with highly detailed texturing on the body and individual feathers. Our artisans created new techniques and individualized hammers to do this work. The price includes all of the ornamentation pictured.
Our customer for this weather vane was a Silicon Valley entrepreneur originally from Iran. Peacocks have been a part of Iranian iconography since at least the 5th century. Having this sculpture piece on display in his garden was a way to keep his family traditions alive without having the loud calls of a live peacock echo throughout his neighborhood!
A sculpture piece like the one featured above is not designed to work as a weather vane but to be displayed in a garden setting. The fanned tail would block the wind’s passage along the body of the weathervane. But in a garden setting, with the emerald glass jewels catching the light of a setting or rising sun, the effect is quite spectacular. For a functional Peacock Weather Vane, please see our photo below.
Our Standing Peacock Weather Vane is another interpretation of this beautiful species.
Peafowl consist of three Asiatic species of flying bird in the genus Pavo of the pheasant family, Phasianidae. They are best known for the male’s extravagant eye-spotted tail, which it displays as part of courtship. The male is called a peacock, the female a peahen, and the offspring peachicks. The adult female peafowl is grey and/or brown. Peachicks can be between yellow and a tawny color with darker brown patches.
This Sulfur Crested Cockatoo Weathervane, Cacatuidae, was made for a customer to put in his living room next to his pet Sulfur Crested Cockatoo. The sculpture piece itself is crafted in copper and optional gold leaf was chosen to create a bright contrast on the cockatoo’s beak, legs, and crest. The glass eyes chosen for the cockatoo pictured are black, but you have your choice from our glass eye selection. We love the way this design has the bird perched on the copper ball, and the feather used as the horizontal wind catcher.
This cockatoo weather vane design can be personalized to be a parrot and/or Cockatiel, depicting your favorite feathered friend.
This Racing Pigeon Weathervane was made for a customer passionate with this hobby. He ordered his vane in a small (~one-foot sculpture piece) to mount on top of his pigeon cote. It was a perfect scale. Also, as pictured above, optional gold leaf was requested to match the white markings on his pigeon. This weathervane can also be made entirely in copper depending on customer preference, or with other variations in gilding. The glass eyes are black, but could be any from our broad selection. As with all of our spread winged sculpture pieces, a security device is included in the pricing to assure your bird will not literally ‘take flight’ in strong winds.
The homing pigeon is a variety of domestic pigeon derived from the Rock Pigeon (Columba livia domestica) selectively bred to find its way home over extremely long distances. The wild rock pigeon has an innate homing ability and will generally return to its own nest and its own mate, which made it relatively easy to breed from the specific birds that repeatedly found their way home over long distances. There are flights as long as 1,800 km (1,100 miles) on record in competition pigeon racing. Their average flying speed over moderate distances (500 miles) is around 80 km/h (50 mph) but speeds of up to 177 km/h (110 mph) have been observed in top racers for short distance (100 miles), presumably with a tail wind.
Homing pigeons are called messenger or carrier pigeons when they are used to carry messages, as they have been recently here in our region, when important and security sensitive messages needed to be conveyed faster than a courier could drive in rush hour traffic.
This Peregrine Falcon Weathervane in Stoop is a classic visual through most of the world. Did you know that a stooping falcon can reach the speed of 200 miles per hour? That is fast!
This weather vane was originally commissioned by a hawking club in North America. The sculpture is fabricated in high detail swell bodied style from copper sheet. The pictures show the stooping bird with optional gold leaf detail on some of the feather edging and the beak and face. The feathers are carefully chased in by our amazing team of artists, each of whom have developed their own personal hammers for creating specific textures in the metal to communicate hair, grasses, leaves, feathers, and more. The color for the glass eyes and the decisions for gilding take place with each customer at the time of their order. Gilding with gold or palladium adds bright highlights to the sculpture piece that become increasingly apparent as the copper weathers into darker shades and then patinas.
And, of course, you could further personalize this vane, or any of our designs, in the ordering process, before your weather vane goes onto our production schedule.
Our bird watching Frog Weathervane with Blue Bird was commissioned by the Wilson Botanical Gardens of North Carolina, to be installed as a part of their newly completed Children’s Secret Garden. It was fun working with them to create this frivolous and lovely piece of a frog standing on a classic ‘toad stool’ (amanita muscaria), holding his binoculars aside to see the bluebird staring at him with an impish glint. The glass taxidermy eyes in the frog and jewel-like blue glass eyes in the bird, pick up so much light and express the mood of the moment.
The sculpture piece is fabricated in copper, and the there is optional gilding in bright, warm gold leaf and cool, silvery palladium leaf to bring out details. As this high detail, swell bodied vane darkens and patinas these gilded areas will become ever more distinct in their contrast.
