Object Details
- Luce Center Label
- The first known weather vane sat on top of the Tower of the Winds in Athens during the first century BC. The rooster weather vane, or weathercock, appeared a thousand years later when a papal edict announced that every church must carry the symbol of a rooster. This was to remind the faithful of Peter's betrayal of Jesus, who said that the cock would not crow until Peter had denied him three times. In the nineteenth century, people made weather vanes showing everyday activities. Horses represented transportation, sport, and social status, and many craftsmen made weather vanes of record-winning racehorses. (Charles Klamkin, Weather Vanes, 1973)
- Luce Object Quote
- "Wind from the east---bad for man and beast;
- Wind from the south is too hot for them both;
- Wind from the north is of very little worth;
- Wind from the west is the softest and the best."
- The Old Farmer's Almanac, 1851, quoted in Charles Klamkin, Weather Vanes, 1973
- Data Source
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Artist
- Unidentified (American)
- Date
- 1850-1860
- Credit Line
- Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase
- Medium
- copper
- Dimensions
- length: 25 1/4 in. (64.0 cm)
- Type
- Decorative Arts
- Folk Art
