The Rooster’s Immortal Perch, Hand Crafted Weathervanes

The weathervane is most often thought of as a metal rooster on the top of a barn that points in the direction of the blowing wind. That is a weathervane point in the direction of the origin of the wind. A compass rose is fixed below the rooster and points in the direction of the eight cardinal points of the earth. North, South, East, West and the four in betweens. Once long ago, it was believed that the winds were gods and in that ancient time, flags were used to tell archers the direction of the going wind. Aiming against the wind in archery and in favor of the wind in sailing are important things for civilizations at their birth.

A genius astronomer and architect from Greece built the oldest weathervane from those myths and legends, to immortalize them in stone and bronze. That was more than 2000 years ago, but just a little over a thousand years ago, the rooster became an immortalized sculpture upon the tops of domes and cupolas in all the world of Christendom, when the pope proclaimed that in honor of the apostle Peter, each church should have a rooster weathervane to remind followers. In Luke 22:34 at the last supper, Christ prophecies that Peter will deny he is a follower or even knows who Jesus is exactly three times before the rooster will crow, and as he denies for the third time that night, the rooster crows. The Holy Roman Empire of the church passed this legacy onward and influenced culture the world over. Even the metal working Vikings would craft weathervanes of roosters, both for spiritual as well as artistic reasons.

Ever since the very first Merman Warrior weathervane known as a Triton. The careful melting down or softening of different metals kept at constant temperatures while mixed with other elements, pounded, sculpted into weapons and crafted. Weathervanes have been made by hand. The hands of a metalworker are usually course and calloused, from the fires and hot coals of the blowing forge. Billows would be used to heat the raw material (bronze, copper, iron, steal, silver, gold…) or any combination of raw materials until such time as the forge was no longer necessary. But till this very day, the forge and anvil are used by blacksmiths to mold and carve the general shape and desired balance of a weathervane.

Sculpting a weathervane however once shaped, can be one of the most detailed and subtly elegant aspects of the art. It takes a lot of time and energy to sculpt a piece of solid metal into a detailed figure, and unless a smith has these skills, she or he will spend great portions of their time on it. Metal sculpting in fine detailed chiseling work is restricted to only a precious few, and those in America that do so are slowly disappearing. One of the greatest metalworking artesian of the 20th century said on many occasions before departing from this world; “Mine is the art of the dinosaur, I will not have my son learn it.” – Grizzly Lee Burton in Portland, Oregon Highland Games, while forging a Scottish sword.

The weathervane for this reason is a prize possession. The weathervane is a possession crafted by the human hand with emotion. Weathervanes are symbolic of a time when things were simpler and far less stressful than they have become in the 21st century. The peaceful life on a farm seems to make life slow down somewhat. Even though time still passes, the sun rises and sets, the rooster is immortalized upon the roof tops of churches, barns and homes as a reminder of peace and harmony, like that of times gone by.

The Origin Of Mythical Creatures As Weathervanes

The Tower of the Winds (Horologion) built in Athens by the astronomer Andronicus around the first half of the first century BC is apparently the oldest surviving weathervane if not the very first in human history. The weathervane itself was destroyed long ago, a beautiful bronze merman warrior known as a Triton. The compass rose however, the very tower itself has survived, and many artists throughout the later half of the last millennium had the chance to draw the tower in its many stages. As time went on, we have seen not only the evolution of the weathervane, but the many real adventures this temple of the winds has survived.

Stories, Myth, Legends and Weathervanes

The oldest surviving written poem by the Greek poet Homer known as the Iliad and its sequel, the Odyssey, tell the tale of a man called Odysseus or Ulysses. These poems were the foundation of what made the very religious navigating people of a scattered language; The Greek Civilization. Language, Religion and the poetry of Homer, that is what made a person Greek. Not land, state or city, but art and culture, things of the heart and soul. The stories of myth and legend have always been the fuel of human imagination throughout our history, and art represents that. The Queen Ann’s Revenge was a pirate ship that brought terror to the seas of the coastal Americas, the legendary Blackbeard was her captain, and since that time has become one of the most inspiring sculpture piece weathervanes. In Babalonian mythology, a great cockatrice rooster/dragon gives birth to the world and the very first artistic representation of a Dragon. Later, in many Norse mythologies and English Royal banners, the dragon went on to become an important figure in weathervanes, and still is today.

The Enchantment of a Wind

The wind is an enchanting aspect of our earth and our lives upon it. The wind enchanted the poets, artists and even scientists such as Andronicus in the days of Antiquity, and continued to enthrall and inspire artists throughout Rome, Europe, Scandinavia and across the Atlantic ocean to the Americas. Sailors’ lives have revolved around the behavior of the winds for so long. And it has always been the sailor who has taken reverence of the wind from one country to another. The great Horologion of Athens may have been built to tell the time either at night or day, but as a temple, it was dedicated to the gods of the wind. And that enchantment of the wind sailed across the waters of trade routes the world over with the Anglo-Saxon metal workers who saw in the weathervane a metal “fane”, a metal flag. This is the English origin of the word weathervane, a “weather flag.”

Human Imagination in a Weathervane

Stories, myth, legend, culture, art, religion; human imagination in a weathervane. We as humans give so much importance to works of art, that art itself can influence our imaginations and our beliefs. The joy that comes from a home owner when someone asks, “Why do you have a ship on your roof?” The story that comes with that answer is a powerful thing indeed. The tales of Blackbeard and the Queen Anne’s Revenge would make for a wonderful afternoon story, over a pint of milk and some cookies. Or perhaps a mermaid that swims in the wind. What a tale it would make to tell of the sunken city of Atlantis to children at night in front of the fireplace with homemade bread and hot chocolate. Folktales are the fuel of our imagination and in a weathervane a delight for our eyes.

All American Modern Art For Home And Garden Weathervanes

Learning to appreciate and admire our own culture is sometimes a tad bit overlooked by most, as is the essence of a weather vane. Life among the garden plants, vases, flowers, trees and birds at home sometimes also goes overlooked by those who are too busy to remember how far we have come as a civilization. Weathervanes are like instant memories. With some weathervane the sound of changing wind will be an immediate reminder of our culture and heritage, with others the mere sight will invoke past experiences and pleasant memories. Art can change society if it wants to or even bring inspiration and insight. The most traditional of American modern arts in the home and garden, is the weather vane. From the oldest documented colonial weathervane of Deacon Shem Drowne in the 18th century with his most famous Grasshopper weathervane that sits upon Faneuil Hall in Boston to the present day, weathervane sculptures have shaped American modern art.

Weathervane and American Modern Art

When we think of American modern art, most people tend to think of paintings and sculptures that sit in galleries and art museums. Weathervane are some of the most traditional works of American sculpture art because they have told the direction of the wind on the tops of houses, fences and barns for hundreds of years and represented important elements in our history. They are made by hand and no two can be exactly the same. Each weather vane is in and of itself a work of human expression, crafted by the hands of an artesian who takes their work seriously and with great passion. Old North Church (1740, Boston), First Church in Cambridge (1721), Province House (1716, Boston), Goddess of Liberty, the Federal Eagle and many famous race horses have all been immortalized by the sculpture of weathervane and banners upon the highest tops.

Weathervane Give The Direction of The Wind and Feed Imagination.

The compass rose is held firmly on a weather vane and will always show the direction of north. The weather vane itself will always point in the direction from which the wind originates. The movement of wind and air is physically the disbursing of energy that has picked up speed and travels through the sky abiding the laws of the cosmos. Indicating in a subtle way, what the skies are about to do. Wind may normally tend to stand idle without a weather vane, but it is always doing something, even if it is absent. Metalworkers and historians alike have been enchanted by the fascinating beauty of weathervane and those delicate “cathartic” moments they captivate in our hearts. Curving and spinning like a dancer, the weather vane fuels our human imagination with its beauty and becomes our link to the sky.

Art In Home and Garden Inspires Peace and Contemplation

This deep and intricate realm of American modern art can be most appreciated in the delicate things. Home and Garden is a place where that kind of traditional hand made art restores the splendor of the subtle and peaceful. “Home is where the heart is.” And through the art of weathervane our expressions of self and family become most attuned to the sky, wind and land that we call home. The weather vane inspires peace and contemplation wherever it stands. Mythical creatures, farm animals, creatures of the sea, sailboats, airplanes, national prides; creative works of an artistic imagination that follow the moving patterns of the wind, a wind that only sleeps at the calm of the storm. And in those moments the weather vane asks a question, where is the wind?