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This realistic Praying Mantis Weathervane is a perfect complement to a water element garden or in tandem placement with our Leaping Trout Weathervane. In the main image shown above, the copper Praying Mantis has translucent glass eyes and is sitting on a brass twig with copper leaves, one of which has a copper penny attached. This design could have added highlights by selecting optional gilding in gold or palladium leaf.
The original commission for this piece was a customer who collects weather vanes and lightning rods. He and his family had recently moved to a heritage farm, and they had their weather vane inscribed with both their family and their farm’s name. They also took the Victorian tradition of including ‘lucky pennies’ in the weather vane to a new level. Originally, sealing a penny from the year of creation into a weathervane was a means of authentication. Later the tradition of adding pennies of significance in the lives of the family who would own the weathervane became common. For this Praying Mantis Weathervane our customer also sent us a penny from 1800, the year of their farm’s origin, and asked us to affix it to one of the leaves to be always viewed, because of its unique size. Pennies of that era were required to contain the value of one cent in copper. At the time copper was cheap, hence this penny is larger than we experience.
Every one of our weather vanes is crafted individually to order. We love customizing our weathervanes to express our customer’s vision. Please call if there is a new weathervane or a variation on an existing design that you would like to discuss.