Weathervane: Cow

Date1852-1880

Possibly by A. L. Jewell & Co. (active 1852-1867)

Possibly by Cushing & White (active 1867-1872)

Possibly by L. W. Cushing & Sons (active 18[72?]-1933)

OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Waltham

MediumCopper, zinc alloy and gilt

DimensionsOverall: 16 1/4 x 28 3/4 x 5 1/4in. (41.3 x 73 x 13.3cm)

Credit LineFrom the collection of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; gift of the Museum of Modern Art

Object number1931.800.6

DescriptionA slim, but dimensional, figure of a cow, the head relatively small with short, forward-tilting horns, standing on a horizontal cross bar. The head is cast zinc-alloy, the body sheet copper molded in two halves and soldered together.
Label TextThis cow weather vane is one of several A. L. Jewell designs that were retained by his successors, Cushing & White and L. W. Cushing & Sons, after Jewell's death in 1867. L. W. Cushing & Sons discontinued Jewell's occasional practice of using cast zinc-alloy heads in favor of vanes made entirely of sheet copper by about 1880.
ProvenanceFound in Boston, Mass., by Edith Greegor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; acquired from Halpert by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller; given by the latter to The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, in 1939; given by MoMA to CWF in June 1954.