Fun and fanciful forms that once graced the tops of barns and buildings dotting America’s landscape, weathervanes were quick to become highly sought-after examples of Americana. Today, they are the backbone of virtually every important folk art collection. The diverse range of forms, created in an equally diverse range of materials, run the gamut from commercially produced molded copper examples to handmade wooden and sheet metal objects.
The most familiar forms are the highly recognizable three-dimensional horses, roosters, rams and cows produced by makers such as Fiske, Cushing, Rochester, Harris and Mott. Equally desirable are the unique handmade weathervanes that were often fabricated in the backs of the barns that they would soon grace.
“Wind & Whimsy: Weathervanes and Whirligigs from Twin Cities Collections” at the Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) presents more than 60 examples in an all-encompassing exhibition representing Nineteenth and Twentieth Century forms. It is on view through April 13.
The varied selection of weathervanes and whirligigs, in many cases representing some of the most desirable forms ever produced, were culled from the collections of the MIA, the Hennepin History Museum and the private collections of several museum supporters, including MIA trustees John Driscoll, Stewart Stender and Deborah Davenport, Mary Ingerbrand-Pohlad, and local collectors Carolyn and Bob Nelson.
The Weathervane
When the history of the weathervane is considered, today’s Americana collectors would likely generalize their production period as late Nineteenth to early Twentieth Century, although handmade vanes extend as far back as the early Eighteenth Century. Europeans, especially the French and Dutch, would cite Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century examples. Preceding these are the quadrant-shaped bronze weathervanes from the Ninth Century that have been discovered by archeologists in Sweden and Norway, where similar examples remain in use today.
History reveals, however, that the first known weathervane was created by the Greeks in 48 BC under the supervision of astronomer Andronikos of Kyrrhos. Although conceived of as a weather station, the octagonal marble Horologian, or “Tower of the Winds,” featured a full-bodied figure of Triton (half man and half fish with a rod in his hand) at its pinnacle. As with modern vanes, the figure, believed to have been as long as 8 feet, pointed into the wind †although it rotated with a portion of the structure to which it was affixed. The directionals, however, were not hemispherically oriented; the vane instead pointed to one of eight ornate friezes depicting images of the “wind deities.” The elaborate structure survives in Athens today, although little is known about the missing Triton vane †perhaps it fell victim to the earliest known weathervane thief or succumbed to the ravages of time.
The weathervane’s documented history in America extends back to the Seventeenth Century. The earliest recorded weathervane, a “weathercock” made in Holland and brought to America in 1656, was mounted on the Dutch Reformed Church in Albany, N.Y. Still in use today, it is positioned on a peak between the spires of what is now known as the First Church.
Massachusetts became a hotbed of weathervane activity over the next century. A banner example with the date 1673 cut into its body is in the collection of the Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass. Although its origin is undocumented, it is believed to be the earliest known American-made weathervane. The vane was originally mounted atop the second meetinghouse of Concord’s colonial church, constructed between 1667 and 1673, and later relocated on the “third meetinghouse.” It is depicted in Amos Doolittle’s 1775 engraving “A View of the Town of Concord.” Recognized for its historical importance, it was donated in 1883 by property owner Louis A Surette to the library.
The first documented weathervane made in America was created in 1716 by Shem Drowne, a coppersmith working in Boston’s North End. The gilded Indian archer was commissioned for the Providence House in Boston, the official residence of the governor.
Although relatively unknown in collecting circles, Drowne produced some of America’s most important weathervanes. Subsequent commissions included the 1721 rooster vane made for the First Church in Cambridge, a 1740 banner still atop Boston’s Old North Church and, his most famous work created in 1742, the grasshopper weathervane that remains atop Boston’s Faneuil Hall.
Weathervanes have long been collected by folk art enthusiasts and one of the first dealers to actively trade in them was Edith Halpert. Conducting business in the 1920s and 1930s from her Downtown Gallery in New York City, Halpert’s main business centered around contemporary art, representing living artists of the day, such as Ben Shahn, Charles Sheeler, Marguerite Zorach, Marsden Hartley, Charles Demuth and Georgia O’Keeffe.
Folk art became one of Halpert’s passions and listed among the prominent clients known to purchase weathervanes and whirligigs from her Downtown Gallery was Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, who later founded the Museum of Modern Art and donated the core of her folk art collection to Colonial Williamsburg, forming the Abby Aldrich Folk Art Museum. Electra Havemeyer Webb was also an enthusiastic client of Halpert’s; her collection and landholdings in Vermont were bequeath to form the Shelburne Museum, an internationally recognized institution highly regarded for its weathervane and folk art collections.
Another celebrated Massachusetts weathervane is the Archangel Gabriel weathervane made by Gould and Hazlett, created for the Universalist Church in 1840 and ultimately installed on the People’s Methodist Church in Newburyport, Mass. Identified as a classic piece of Americana at the turn of the Twentieth Century, the weathervane was the subject of a US government-commissioned watercolor by Works Progress Administration artist Lucille Chabot. It was included in the 1937 tome Index of American Design, and reproduced in 1965 by the US Postal service, appearing on 1.2 billion Christmas stamps.
Due to old age, weather damage and the fear of theft, the Gabriel weathervane was removed from the steeple in 1980 and replaced with a copy. The original, on display for many years in the lobby of a local bank, was eventually returned to the church around 2001 and sold to an Americana collector, reportedly from New Jersey.
Perhaps the most renowned weathervane in America is the J.L. Mott Indian Chief that sold at an auction conducted at Sotheby’s in 2006. The rare vane, similar in form to one in MIA’s “Wind & Whimsy” exhibition, sold to Jerry and Susan Lauren for a world record price paid at auction, bringing $5.84 million.
Wind & Whimsy
These weathervanes that traditionally tracked the wind over America’s farmlands and provided a service to watchful farmers now afford a benefit of a different sort †in the form of enjoyment of the arts. “Wind & Whimsy: Weathervanes and Whirligigs from Twin Cities Collections” celebrates the art of weathervane collecting in America via a sumptuous assortment of examples from MIA’s collection as well as other holdings.
Organized in six distinct sections, the exhibition begins with “Roosters and Other Fowl,” then proceeds to “Horses” and “Other Creatures.” The depth of the exhibition is seen in “The Human Form” and ships, plows, banners and arrows are featured in “Miscellany.” A separate section is devoted to “Whirligigs.”
“Wind & Whimsy” is the inspiration of MIA associate curator Corine Wegener, with support from primary lenders Stender and Davenport, who offered examples from their collection, and with help from numerous others, including Americana expert Steve Miller.
The 2006 opening of the Michael Graves-designed Target Wing at MIA was another major factor in the exhibition’s presentation. Marking a forward moment in the history of the museum, the expansion allowed for troves of museum holdings to be displayed in the newly created galleries devoted to American art.
The history of the museum’s interest in weathervanes precedes this exhibition, however, extending back to 1998 with the opening of its first gallery devoted to American folk art. Two rooster weathervanes were featured, both on loan from Driscoll, although within the next six years, those two examples, along with his entire collection of rooster weathervanes, would be donated to MIA.
Recognizing the importance of the weathervane within the scope of folk art, Driscoll made his donation contingent on a stipulation favorable to the MIA †pick the vanes you want and sell the rest.
The MIA laid claim to 14 examples from the Driscoll collection and sent the rest to public auction, with the proceeds creating the Driscoll Art Accessions Endowment Fund. Fittingly, it would be another rooster weathervane/sculpture that was acquired first with monies from the fund. Although quite different in scope from the “roosters” Driscoll collected, but folk art nonetheless, a 1918 “Modernist” cock by Wilhelm Hunt Diederich was added to the collection.
Rooster vanes donated by Driscoll that remain in MIA’s collection include a superb cast iron bodied example with a boldly crimped copper tail and crest by J. Howard and Company, West Bridgewater, Mass., a large rooster on a ball with molded tail by J.W. Fiske, New York City, a stately “Hamburg” rooster, a feisty “gamecock” by Cushing and Sons, Waltham, Mass., and the masculine “Rochester” rooster produced by the Rochester Iron Works, Rochester, N.H.
The Stender/Davenport collection provides the core of the mouth-watering examples on view, including the ever-popular “Goddess of Liberty” produced in the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century by A.L. Jewell and Company, Waltham, Mass. A stately example with a pleated zinc banding around Liberty’s cap and a sash impressed with stars providing a pleasing contrast to the wonderful overall verdigris surface, it measures more than 2 feet tall and more than a foot wide.
Featured on the cover of the exhibition catalog bearing the same title as the exhibition is another iconic figural vane, “Fame.” Also on loan from the Stender/Davenport collection, it depicts a graceful winged female figure in a sweeping windblown dress standing on one foot and blowing a horn. Standing almost 3 feet tall and with an excellent weathered surface, the vane was made by the J.L. Mott Iron Works, New York City, circa 1880.
What would a weathervane exhibition be without a selection of horses? Perhaps the most exciting form to have ever been produced, Howard’s Index horse with its neatly molded mane and deeply crimped tail is on view. Virtually all of the manufacturers are represented with stellar forms, including the fierce large version of the Ethan Allen vane that is characterized by its long molded tail and stylized zinc head complete with flared nostrils and bulging veins. It was produced by Harris and Company, Boston, circa 1880.
The stylish Black Hawk and the early horse jumping over a ball, both by Jewell, are also on view, and both are on loan from the Stender/Davenport collection.
Artistically superb and with tremendous folk art appeal is the horse and rider, produced in the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century by an unknown maker. Regal in appearance, with a top hatted and waistcoated rider atop a proudly prancing equine, this example is especially attractive, retaining a wonderful overall golden-yellow wash.
Other creatures include full-bodied fox weathervanes, a peacock, a Cushing pike fish weathervane, a classic Harris steer, a peacock and a leaping stag.
Another group of crowd-pleasers are the three figural Indian weathervanes, each produced by a different company and presented with interesting and unique features. The first of the examples, a Nipmuck Indian by Harris, depicts an aggressively posed brave with three large molded feathers in his headdress and his oversized bow with an arrow at the ready.
The Fiske Indian vane depicts a brave with nocked bow, quiver with several arrows, a knife in his belt and a full crimped copper war bonnet on his head. Measuring 2 feet long and high, this vane retains much of the original gilt surface and depicts the figure mounted on an arrow.
The most impressive of the group is a stylish warrior superbly portrayed shooting an arrow skyward. This J.L. Mott-made vane, portraying the brave with a vertically rising molded full headdress, arrow-filled quiver, a bead-fringed skirt and standing atop a large arrow, measures more than 3 feet in length.
While weathervanes claim the lion’s share of space and attention in the exhibition, eight unique whirligigs are also featured. Hand carved and unique in presentation, these wind toys were fixtures on fences within eyeshot of the kitchen window or the back porch. Far less mechanical than the animated whirligigs produced today by folk artists, the examples on display are well executed, intricately carved and painted forms with paddle “arms” that spun in the wind.
All of the gigs on view are from the Ingebrand-Pohlad collection, with highlights including an Zouave soldier, circa 1865, in excellent original paint. With button-down leggings, cummerbund and a dress jacket, the skirted figure was carved with unusual realistically formed arms terminating in paddles. Military figures were fashionable forms, and also included is a soldier in dress uniform with a white waistcoat, blue pants and kepi and red paddle arms.
Sailors were also popular subjects for whirligig makers, and on display is a large three-dimensional figure of a deckhand in a blue suit with red, white and blue paddles. Considered by some to have originated in Nantucket are the one-dimensional flatties depicting a “Cahoonish” knock-kneed sailor in white bellbottom pants, a blue shirt with large white collar and a red tie.
Another popular subject was the Indian, with the majority of the known forms depicting the figure standing in a canoe. One such whirligig on view is a wonderful example with a well-carved and painted form holding paddles shaped in a “North Western” fashion and decorated with Native American motifs.
Of all of the examples of weathervanes and whirligigs on view in the exhibition, the one that traditionally commands the most interest from viewers is the “Archangel Gabriel.” It is a weathervane that has “set the standard for showing folk art in a fine art context,” says Christopher Monkhouse, the former James Ford Bell curator of architecture, design, decorative arts, craft and sculpture at MIA.
The exquisite one-dimensional iron weathervane with graceful flowing lines measures more than 5 feet long and depicts the horizontally positioned winged figure in flight, his robe fluttering behind him, and announcing his presence and intentions with a trumpet clutched in one hand and pressed to his mouth and an olive sprig extended in his other hand.
Now in the collection of Minneapolis’ Hennepin History Museum, this weathervane made history in its day, prominently perched for more than 150 years atop an elaborate cupola rising above the Winslow House, a local “frontier” hotel. Said to have been mounted on the hotel as a publicity ploy, it attracted “curious onlookers [who] came from miles around, eager to see a gold plated work of art,” states University of Minnesota professor and catalog essayist Karal Ann Marling.
The Gabriel weathervane continues to enjoy a significant role in Minneapolis’s current artistic history, reasons Monkhouse, who proclaims the region’s popular outdoor sculpture parks to be the “present day sprouts of a seed that was planted a century and half ago.”
The catalog Wind & Whimsy: Weathervanes and Whirligigs from Twin Cities Collections, featuring color images of all of the vanes and gigs in the exhibition, is available from MIA’s bookstore for $15.95, softcover. The MIA is at 2400 3rd Avenue South. For information, 612-870-3000 or www.artsmia.org .
