Weathervane: Horse

Date1875-1900

Possibly by Rochester Iron Works

OriginAmerica, New Hampshire, Rochester (possibly)

MediumIron, zinc alloy, lead, and gilding

DimensionsOverall: 26 x 39 3/8 x 6in. (66 x 100 x 15.2cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1972.806.1

DescriptionA full-bodied cast iron weather vane in the form of a striding horse, the R rear and L foreleg advancing, the L front hoof held off the ground. The tail is cut out of sheet and riveted in place between the two cast halves of the body. A hole for mounting purposes appears just behind the forelegs. Traces of gilding remain.
Label TextSheet iron and molded copper were the commonest materials used to fabricate weather vanes in the second half of the nineteenth century, but a few cast iron vanes were made. This horse was produced in several different sizes, the Museum's apparently being the largest. The bodies were cast in separate halves that were riveted together. A flat, sheet iron tail was riveted in place between the two halves of each vane.
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller loaned a similarly posed and configured (but smaller) horse to an important early exhibition ("American Folk Sculpture: the Work of Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Craftsmen") held at the Newark Museum, Newark, New Jersey, from October 20, 1931 through January 31, 1932. Regarding that horse, the exhibition catalogue entry stated: "Unlike many modern stylized animals with strained tightness in their affected poses, this horse gains rather than loses in dignity by the formality of his pose." Hence, today, variously-sized horses like that one are often called "formal horses."
The animal's arched neck, tucked head, and stately controlled gait give the impression of a parade horse, while its elevated tail, dished face, and small pricked ears enhance its silhouette. The horse's proportions are distinctly stockier than those of the more numerous nineteenth century vanes patterned after harness race horses.

ProvenanceFound in Portsmouth, New Hampshire; T. Y. Finner, Boston, Mass.; Edith Gregor Halpert, Downtown Gallery, New York, NY; Terry Dintenfass, Inc., New York, NY.

Exhibition(s)