Nevada - Garden Ornaments

White elephant garden stool or stand. Early 1960's Italian craftsman piece. Larger than average size with "walking" legs. Covered in a...

Listed is a rare and outstanding full bodied J. W. Fiske copper and zinc horse and jockey weathervane. It is in excellent all original condition with an extraordinary amount of the original gold leaf intact; highly unusual to find in this state of preservation due to inclement weather exposure to which they were subjected. The jockey is zinc and has been hand-painted, as is the head of the horse, whereas, the rest of the weathervane has clear evidence of high gold karat application with the majority of it still in place. An identical example of the stallion can be seen on page 77 of "The Gallery of American Weathervanes" by Bishop and Coblentz written in 1981. That example is also copper with a cast zinc jockey and horse head. Subject matter of horse and jockey symbolizes the popularity of horse racing, steeplechase, and harness racing during the late 19th century which is further illustrated in several Currier and Ive's lithographs of the same period. The manufacturer of this weathervane, the J.W. Fiske Co., was established in New York City in 1863 by Joseph Winn Fiske. In addition to weathervanes, they were premier makers of upscale decorative iron works for gardens. Many of their weathervanes and products were custom-made to order. A Fiske weathervane...

Clay art garden stool with floral glaze top, circa 1970s by Stan Bitters of California for Hans Sumpf. A few chips on bottom edge of top.