Historic Antique Old 1880s American Folk Art BUTCHER Trade Sign WEATHERVANE

  

This is very rare and historically important Antique Old 1880s American Folk Art BUTCHER Trade Sign WEATHERVANE, comprised of hand cut metal, which displays a gorgeous patina of multiple layers of crackling paint and signs of more than a century of weathering against the elements. This weathervane is modeled after Bernard Gloekler's well known butcher's sign, which was designed in 1887 and patented in 1889 by Bernard Gloekler Co. This sign, with its iconic arrangement of a cow, bone saw, knife and cleaver became a universally recognized symbol for a butcher shop and was often painted on the doors or windows of these establishments. This piece is highly unusual as it is the only known original period antique weathervane to be modeled on this classic American trade sign.

If you are a serious weathervane collector, you can appreciate how special and one of a kind this artwork is. This is a large piece, at approximately 34 1/2 inches wide x 27 1/2 inches tall. NOTE: The stand for the weathervane is not included in the sale and is only featured for photography and display purposes. This artwork likely originates from the Midwestern United States and was acquired by me from a picker in Texas, who explained to me that he was from Nebraska and does most of his antique hunting throughout the Midwest.

This piece is from my personal collection, and I honestly don't care if I sell it or not, as I'd be happy to keep it on the wall where it currently is displayed. A fair and reasonable Offer may change my mind. If you like what you see, I encourage you to make an Offer. Please check out my other listings for more wonderful and unique artworks! About the Bernard Gloekler Company.

Bernhard Gloekler's Well-Hung Meat. As with most great historical tales about meat, this story begins in Germany. More specifically the village Hausen im Wiesental in Baden-Württemberg, Germany where Bernhard Gloekler was born on August 27, 1839. Bernhard immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was 14 years old and worked for James Brown and Sons gunsmiths for some time. In 1874 he began working as the successor to John Wagner, a butcher tool supply company on the receipt at the beginning of this post.

Gloekler's company was literally in the nuts and bolts of the meat refrigeration business, designing and manufacturing latches, locks, and hinges to refrigerators for all kinds of end users, including florists and bakers. It's his son, Charles (born 1864, Pittsburgh) who created several patents on a variety of cast iron fixtures that sent the company in a much different direction.

For this post we'll just concentrate on meat hanging racks. Meat racks up to that time were fastened to the wall and anchored from the other side. Charles' innovation came in 2 parts - First was moving the meat away from the wall so it could hang more freely and not accessible to insects and pests; Second was to create different mounting brackets for different butcher shop needs. For example, Charles' 1890 Patent is for a meat rack hanging from the ceiling allowed butchers to utilize what was normally wasted space while allowing the customer to see all sides of the cut easily. Charles Gloekler's 1887 hanging meat rack featuring ornate additions to the wall-mounted brackets to help distribute/cushion the weight of a full rack. He improved on that in 1889, with a more ornate meat rack and a new wall bracket shape, but still utilizing the same concept. The result was quite dramatic while being functional.