In the century following the Revolution, Americans, many anonymous and untrained, expressed a variety of attitudes, values, and ideas through the medium of popular and folk art.

In America, in the 19th century, it was the simple pleasures of the land, that brought delight and inspired the imagination. Many changes were occurring during the 19th century and the farmer clung to the images of rural life. This resulted in the farmer's artistic expression and a market for factory-made images of pigs, goats, bulls, cows, plows, sheep, and horses fashioned in the forms of weathervanes mostly in metal, but on the farm in wood. The folk artist was moved to create something that embodied rural delight.

The weathervane was developed out of early man's need to understand and predict the wind. The need to predict, with a certain degree of accuracy, the changes in weather heralded by the direction of the wind certainly led to the development of the weathervane, one of the first meteorological instruments devised.

Around 48 BC Andronikos Kyrrhestes of Kyrrhos, a Greek astronomer, erected a water clock at Athens. This clock is known as The Tower of Winds. The octagonal structure faced the eight points of the compass. Each side was topped by a relief figure representing one of the eight winds. To make his tower more distinctive, Andronikos surmounted it with a giant bronze figure of Triton. This half-fish, half man, demigod of the sea, held a rod that indicated the direction of the wind as the figure revolved in the fluctuating breezes.

The earliest weathervanes were of handmade wrought iron and were generally simple angular silhouettes with a small hole suggesting an eye. Later copper, zinc and polychrome wood with features in relief were fashioned into more realistic forms. Ships, horses, fish, Indians, roosters and angels were popular motifs. In the 19th century, silhouettes were often made from sheet metal. Wooden figures became highly carved and were painted in vivid colors. E,. G. Washburne and Company in New York was one of the most prominent manufacturers of weather vanes during the last half of the century. Two-dimensional sheet metal weathervanes are increasing in value due to the already high prices of the full-bodied variety. Originality, strength of line, and patination help to determine value.

The earliest known examples of weathervanes were found on late 17th century structures in the Boston area. The vanes were hand-crafted of wood, copper, or tin. By the last half of the 19th century, weather vanes adorned farms and houses throughout the nation. Mass produced vanes of cast iron, copper and sheet metal were sold through mail order catalogs or at country stores.

In addition to being functional, weather vanes were decorative. Popular forms include horses, Indians, leaping stags, and patriotic emblems. Church vanes were often in the form of a fish or cock. Buildings in coastal towns featured ships or sea creatures. Occasionally a vane doubled as a trade sign.

Because weathercocks were often three-dimensional they required more maintenance than their silhouette bannered counterparts. The cock on St. Paul's Cathedral in London was restored and regillded many times between 1273 and 1461 when it blew down and was destroyed when it crashed against a sign in the churchyard in 1505.

With the rebuilding of London after the devastating fire of 1666, the weathervane achieved new popularity. The cock, heraldic-style banners, and simple arrows were the images that the famous architect, Sir Christopher Wren and his contemporaries used most often.

At first Colonials probably imported their vanes from Europe. Perhaps the imports were then copied by local craftsmen. Eventually, the development of local skills and artistic sensibilities led to a flowering of creative genius that elevated the vane maker from craftsman to Thomas Jefferson was the first American known to have made of an indicator dial. This invention was located in the ceiling of the entrance portico at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia and was visible from several locations within the house. It was installed after 1796.

By the middle of the 17th century stationary compass pointers (directionals) had been added to the weather vanes. These made it easier to determine accurately in which direction the head of the vane was pointing as it turned in the wind.

The weathervane was extremely popular in America because weather forecasting was vitally important to the seafaring and agricultural lives led by the Colonists. It also became a symbol of newfound social and political equality because any man could now raise an elaborate metal banner as a make-believe coat of arms over his home or farm.

Early wooden vanes were fashioned by hand, and a seemingly endless variety of forms attests to the folk artist's individual sense of design. Full-bodied, three-dimensional examples were the most difficult to carve. Flat-bodied vanes were occasionally embellished with carved details. Nearly all were painted originally, and those that retain the early paint are the most sought after.

During the 18th century and first part of the 19th century, all weathervanes were hand-crafted. They were generally of four distinct types, silhouette wooden vanes, three-dimensional wooden vanes, silhouette metal vanes and three-dimensional metal vanes.

Shortly after the Revolution, native tin and coppersmiths were devising weathervanes in shapes and patterns that were far superior to their European counterparts. These craftsmen could creative weathervanes that portrayed humor and delicate design.

By the end of the 18th century the weathercock had lost much of its religious significance. As a representation of the strutting barnyard tyrant, its broad tail could catch even  summer breeze and indicate the true direction of the wind for all to see.

Animals and fowl of every description appeared over fam1houses and barns throughout the young nation. Subjects were frequently related to the immediate locale. Buildings in coastal towns featured whales, codfish, swordfish, dolphins, mermaids and square-rigged ships. Paul Revere placed a wooden codfish studded with copper nails for scales above his silversmith shop in Boston.

In the South, where English traditions were still observed, heraldic banners and standards were popular.

Farmers, however, as they could not see the town's vanes, erected their own. Being far from the local blacksmith, they invented their own designs. Breaking with tradition, the farmers created vanes in the shape of Indians and wild domesticated animals, especially horses.

In the early 1800s, Americans favored weathervanes in patriotic designs. The Eagle, Columbia, the Goddess of Liberty, George Washington on horseback, and finally the Statue of Liberty indicate the large variety of designs that adapted in the 18th and 19th centuries by commercial weathervane companies.

The weathervane became one of America's first forms of sculpture. The vigor, boldness and ingenuity displayed by 18th century weathervane makers have come to be internationally recognized.

Beginning in 1875 vanes were mass-produced in metal, using wooden, hand-carved models. Manufacturers advertised hundreds of shapes in elaborate catalogs that reflected the growth of the United States, the railroad, fire-fighting equipment and farm specialization. However, many of the favorites continue to be tied to nature, in weathervanes of many different animals.

In the 19th century there were many weathervane manufacturers mass-producing vanes in dozens of designs. Some of the more famous makers were L. W. Cushing, J. W. Fiske, Harris &. CO, A,L, Jewell &; CO, and E, G, Washburn &; CO. The stationary metal vane or banner became popular as an architectural ornament during the second half of the 19th century. Victorians frequently used them on their Gothic Revival houses and buildings and the Victorian style copper work is in great demand for the Victorian Revival homes of today.

Today weathervanes are being rediscovered as an opportunity to express individuality, regardless of the "direction" in which it may lie.

Bird with fancy tail, wrought iron, paint traces, original V mount, bullet holes, may sell for $1000. Eagle, gilt copper, late 19th century may sell for $4000 or more. Indian, copper molded Mashamoquet, full bodied figure, Indian chief, shaggy pony tail, short skirt, repousse detail, drawing bow and arrow, standing on arrow headed rod on abstract rockwork c.1850 may sell for $8000 or more.

If you have any questions, you can Email us at antshoppe@aol.com