Description:
standing rooster with molded feathers

Label Text:
The weathervane, or weathercock, consists of a figurative or "banner" form that turns on a vertical rod and points into the wind. Weathervanes are functional devices for determining wind direction and predicting the weather, but they have a decorative purpose as well, often displaying ingenuity and inventiveness as a form of art.

The rooster was the earliest weathervane design in America. Churches in Europe often used roosters on their church steeples as a reference to the biblical account of the denial of Peter, who denied Christ three times before the crowing of the cock. This tradition carried over to the New World as colonists copied the European designs, placing roosters on their own church steeples. Soon, however, farmers began to design their own weathervanes to reflect their environment and livelihood.

Tags:
birds

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+2003.30.8

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