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Sold to a private collector
Rare and Important Steam Locomotive Weathervane
American, circa 1882
Copper; Iron fittings
H. 17", L. 61", D. 8"
Provenance: Collection of Susan and Raymond Egan
Image courtesy Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, NH
Courtesy C. L. Prickett, Yardley, PA
Todd Prickett of C.L. Prickett American Antiques broke the record for an American weathervane when he purchased this locomotive vane for a client at Northeast Auctions for $1,216,000. This sale also created another record: the first million dollar sale for the auction house. Fellow dealers and collectors agree that this weathervane exhibits beauty of design, skillful execution, and wonderful condition; when combined with its rarity the result was active bidding.
The weathervane was originally installed atop of the Depot Building of the Providence and Worcester Railway in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. In the 1960s it was removed and sold, passing through the hands of major dealers and collectors over the years. Several other examples are known; a closely related vane, probably by the same maker, was made in Amesville, Connecticut.
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