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Weather Vane: Model Fire Engine Rendered by Beverly Chichester (artist), c. 1937 watercolor, gouache, and graphite on paperboard overall: 45.5 x 73.3 cm (17 15/16 x 28 7/8 in.) Original IAD Object: 50" long Index of American Design 1943.8.7697 Not on View |
Object 13 of 17
Made in the late nineteenth century, this weather vane represents a contemporaneous fire engine. By combining brass, copper, zinc, and iron, the craftsman created a functional yet decorative object. The boiler of the engine is made of brass, while the other engine parts, the men's bodies, and the horses are copper. The heads of the firemen are zinc; the supporting bars are iron painted black. This weather vane may have topped a firehouse. Compared with the simple, stylized forms common in the folk art tradition, the attention to detail marks this fire engine as an unusually fine piece. The craftsman who executed such a work had to be skilled in shaping the metal as well as sensitive to the elements of design.
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