Copper is a traditional and popular material among all other materials used for building weather vanes. Master craftsmen of yesteryears who usually built weather vanes out of carved woods, wanted to reproduce and preserve their works. So, many of them turned to copper as an alternative amongst all metals to make weather vanes, as it is quite malleable.
Intricate details in designing and depicting various shapes reflected the expertise of craftsperson. Their skill was visible in these hand-cast, innovatively designed and carved copper weather vanes. Such copper weather vanes were crafted by coppersmiths by hammering the metal into desired shape or shaped with cast iron molds. Individual pieces were then trimmed by hand and soldered into one complete figure.
Copper weathervanes can be designed according to various ethnic or modern styles, each having a distinct look and appeal of their own. Additional built in copper is required to enrich the look and feel and add volume to the figure. In case of a figurine, such as a cow may have upto twenty-seven pieces, which are separately hammered and then integrated to build the vane. Often other metals such as brass are used to accentuate some parts of these copper vanes and enhance their appearance.
Copper weather vanes are considered to be an essential part of American folk art and some craftsmen still follow the time-honored ways of making them. Antique copper weather vanes are also collected and kept as prized possessions. They are very popular for their burnish and ethnic look enriched by different finishing procedures.
A number of dealers and manufacturers of copper weather vanes are available online. Various items are displayed on their web sites. Most of these copper vanes can be bought by placing orders online or visiting retail stores. Price lists are also displayed and compared with market rates at times. Description of design and materials used, generally accompany the photographs of these copper weather vanes.
