Weathervane: Rooster

Date1850-1875 (possibly)

MediumCopper with traces of gilding and yellow paint

DimensionsOverall: 23 x 18 1/2 x 1 1/2in. (58.4 x 47 x 3.8cm)

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1972.800.2

DescriptionA flat vane in the form of a rooster having two irregular, rectangular cutouts in the neck and two similarly irregular triangular cutouts in the breast, also a small circular cutout denoting the bird's eye. Seven tailfeathers are separately represented (and reinforced by two cross bands). Other features include triangular points representing the comb, a large wattle, and a large, rounded, slightly opened beak. The vane terminates at the lower edge of the body.

Artist unidentified.
Label TextThe rooster has long been a symbol of vigilance, Saint Peter's denial of Christ, and the farmyard. Used on structures ranging from churches to barns, the rooster was among the most versatile weather vane forms in nineteenth-century America.
The maker of this vane imaginatively shaped the sheet copper, employed unusual geometric cut-outs in the rooster's body that were probably intended to reduce the weight of that part of the vane, and cut stylized, exaggerated curves for tail feathers. The rooster's form and, especially, the design of the tail, relate to early rooster vanes, which justifies this example's presumed date.
ProvenanceGeorge Karger, New York, NY; Edith Gregor Halpert, New York, NY; Terry Dintenfass, Inc., New York, NY.