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AI Appraisal
Description
Beautiful Antique Smuggler Race Horse & Sulky Weathervane. Solid copper has aged beautifully. This beauty is on the roof of a 164 year old colonial I have just purchased. It appears to be hand crafted and is three dimensional. I believe this to be from the 19 century. Very large. My husband got up on the roof during the storm, but we didnt see any markings on it. It appears to have some small repair on the rode itself. Im estimating the size to be 2.5-3' long x 1.5' tall. The rod is a easy 4' long.
Category
Metalware
Medium
copper patina
Distinguishing marks
no
Condition
Fair
Date Period
100+
History
on the roof of a 164yr old colonial
eBay Auction Link
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Re: Antique Smuggler Horse &Sulky Weathervane Copper Patina
I am looking for an appraisal of this exact same weathervane. I found mine in a very small antique store in a small town outside of Abilene, TX. It was lying against a chain link fence behind the shop with scap metal laying on top of it. I fell in love with it and the store owner sold it to me for $25.00. Any idea to what it might be worth?
Re: Antique Smuggler Horse &Sulky Weathervane Copper Patina
Again, this is not an antique- it is 1960-1980s or sooner. It is identical in form to the one just posted before this and is mass produced. It does appear to have a desirable green surface but it is questionable if it is natural or not, and quite frankly even if natural won't increase the value by much at all, just the saleability. Again similar value @ $150-$350 to a retail buyer and as the other commentor mentioned they are often found much cheaper through flea markets and craigslist.
A bit on my background- I work almost exclusively with genuine 19th century weathervanes, of which excellent examples can be worth $1000-$50,000 and up depending on rarity, form, and surface. I see these decorative examples on a daily basis and there is little demand for them.
Another note to add is that many auctioneers and dealers alike misrepresent these pieces as from the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s etc.... In my opinion they are all wrong and even the earliest "reproductions" lacking detail such as this are mid 20th century at the very very earliest.