Untitled (Eagle Weathervane)

Media - 2016.38.75 - SAAM-2016.38.75_1 - 126671
Copied Unidentified, Untitled (Eagle Weathervane), ca. 1875, painted sheet iron, 21 1⁄8 × 24 3⁄4 × 1 1⁄8 in. (53.7 × 62.9 × 2.9 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson, 2016.38.75
Free to use

Artwork Details

Title
Untitled (Eagle Weathervane)
Artist
Unidentified
Date
ca. 1875
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
21 1⁄8 × 24 3⁄4 × 1 1⁄8 in. (53.7 × 62.9 × 2.9 cm)
Credit Line
The Margaret Z. Robson Collection, Gift of John E. and Douglas O. Robson
Mediums Description
painted sheet iron
Classifications
Keywords
  • Animal — bird — eagle
Object Number
2016.38.75
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2016.38.75

Artwork Description

Whether a rustic carving or a forged metalwork, weathervanes have long been part of American rooftops, and their forms often suggested something about the beliefs of the people whose homes or buildings they graced. Fusing art, design, and functional object, weathervanes came to symbolize a democratic art form, something that could be made by farmers, blacksmiths, artisanal craftsmen, or anyone who wanted to. Patriotic fervor following the creation of the new American republic made the eagle an abiding favorite, symbolizing a nation born of strength, courage, and independence.
(We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection, 2022)

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.38.43R-V - SAAM-2016.38.43R-V_2 - 126225
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection
July 1, 2022–March 26, 2023
Smithsonian American Art Museum
We Are Made of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection traces the rise of self-taught artists in the twentieth century and examines how, despite wide-ranging societal, racial, and gender-based obstacles, their creativity and