AMER AUGUST 2015
The live portion of this session begins on Monday, August 24, 2015.
MONUMENTAL AND IMPORTANT FISKE COW WEATHERVANE.Circa 1890. Commissioned by William Hayes of Tariffville Connecticut for his barn, and probably created by J W Fiske, New York City, New York.
The form is of a short horn Jersey cow, and though known examples of this scale are extremely rare, there is a similar weathervane illustrated in the Fiske catalog of that era. This huge weathervane is constructed from repousse copper panels soldered together, and is attached to the original large scale copper tube, the vertical portion of which shows significant wear and is unquestionably original. The weathervane is in an exquisite verdigris patina, testimony to a hundred years of active daily service on the cupola of the Hayes' Dairy Barn, before going to work on the cupola of the Simsbury post office. An iconic and extremely well documented piece of Americana. Accompanied by a complete history of ownership, including a bronze plaque from the Simsbury, Connecticut post office where the weathervane resided from its dedication in 1966 until 1988, but for a day short of a year, when it was stolen and then recovered. Also included are a number of articles and early photographs of the weathervane. SIZE: 33" h x 48" l x 14" w. CONDITION: Good, with very minimal traces of original sizing and gilt remaining on the underside of hindquarters. It has never been re-surfaced and the only repair noted is a single bullet hole expertly repaired at the center of its being. The repair has weathered significantly due to the overall patina. Additionally there are some dents present around tail and body junction, nose and middle of proper right side. None of these are visually distracting. 49302-1 DH (25,000-35,000)