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Apollo Weather Vane

Maker Wilhelm Hunt Diederich (American, 1884 - 1953)

ClassificationsDECORATIVE ARTS

Dateca. 1925

Mediumiron on sheet brass

Dimensions23 3/4 x 46 in. (60.3 x 116.8 cm.)

Credit LineThe Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. Purchased with funds from Steve Martin

Status

On view

Label TextWilliam Hunt Diederich made utilitarian objects as well as bronze sculptures (see his Antelope and Hound and Playing Greyhounds in the loggia of this building). American folk artists often made weathervanes; this piece reflects Diederich's admiration for their simple, elongated figures and animals. The streamlined forms also evoke the sleek shapes of Art Deco design.
Diederich made this weathervane at White Pines, a house owned by Jane and Ralph Whitehead, the founders of the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony near Woodstock, New York. Diederich worked at Byrdcliffe, where he produced metalwork and pottery, from 1918 through the 1930s. There are several versions of this weathervane, and Diederich also used the design for a fire screen. He later sold the design to the Ohio-based Heisey Glass Company, which put it on lamp bases.

Object number2005.7