Abacus
Antique Dealers: Antique Weather Vanes
Weather
vanes are instruments used to detect the direction
of the wind. They date back to the year 48 BC, as
seen from the Tower of Winds in Athens, Greece. There
are many other references to weather vanes in history
right from the 1st century BC.
The
first authenticated weather vane in the US was supposedly
made by Shem Drowne of Boston in 1716. Another vane
made by the same master vane-maker was a large copper
Indian vane and it was installed in 1740 on Boston's
Old North Church.
Antique
weather vanes are very rare and much in demand. Handcrafted
ones are very difficult to authenticate. There is
a great demand for those made in the factories which
date back to the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Some
of the most popular weather vane makers were A.L.
Jewell, J.W.Fiske, E.G.Washburne and Cushing and White.
Some
unscrupulous dealers duplicate weather vanes to look
like antiques by coating them with animal manure,
placing them in dirt-filled boxes with salt water
and burying them underground for a few months. The
antique look can also be duplicated by treating them
with copper sulphate, acetic acid and potassium sulphide.
Antique
weather vanes were also highly experimented upon,
and so we find many unique pieces like the one made
by Thomas Jefferson which had a shaft that went through
the roof into the room below. There was an indicator
there so that the wind direction could be checked
without going out of the house and looking at the
vane directly.
Antique
iron weather vanes are also available in several types
like: deck or fence weather vanes, lawn weather vanes,
roof top weather vanes, table top weather vanes, and
more. They are also provided with the necessary accessories
and hardware like cupolas, mounting shafts, and roof
mount bases.
There
are certain guidelines for identifying whether a weather
vane is really an antique or not. Real antique vanes
are much finer than fake ones. Since antique vanes
were usually covered with metal sheets, rather than
being painted on, they may have some square borders
of gilt remaining. Also, they would have a mellow
burnished finish instead of a shiny look. Since weather
vanes were usually used for shooting practice in olden
days, some real antique vanes may have bullet holes
in them.
If
it has holes or fissures, then there should be some
dust accumulated inside. A good shake should reveal
this. Although these are not sure-fire tests for antique
weather vanes, they can help to know at a glance if
the vane is really antique or not. Antique weather
vanes, like other antique products, are in high demand
by collectors.
