$160,000
Molded Copper Horse Jumping Through Hoop Weather Vane, Attributed to A. L. Jewell & Co. Waltham, Massachusetts, 1852-1867, flattened full-body figure with embossed sheet copper mane and tail, jumping through original copper rod hoop, verdigris surface, including metal stand, ht. from copper rod just below hoop to top of hoop 17, lg. 28 1/4, total ht. with stand 75 in. Provenance Ron and Penny Dionne. Literature: A similar weather vane is illustrated in A Gallery of American Weathervanes and Whirligigs , by Robert Bishop & Patricia Coblentz, Bonanza Books, publishers, 1984. Note: "A.L. Jewell & Co. Waltham, Massachusetts. The first full-time commercial weathervane manufacturer was Alvin L. Jewell of Waltham, Massachusetts, near Boston, who opened his doors in 1852. Jewell, a gifted designer and craftsman, created a line of weathervane forms imitated by later business. He was also the first to publish a catalog of his designs. His vanes were made of copper molded in iron forms, which had been cast from carved wood models. Each part of the vane was molded in two symmetrical halves joined with solder. This new method allowed Jewell and his followers to mass produce identical vanes. Jewell's hollow copper vanes were clear, simple forms, easily recognized from any viewpoint. They were an immediate success. After Jewell's death (in a rooftop fall) in 1867, his business and patterns were sold at auction." Excerpted from the National Gallery of Art's Catalog, An American Sample Read more…
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2007-02-18
