Item Details:

FULL-BODIED COPPER GARGOYLE

MAKER UNKNOWN

AMERICAN FOLK ART, circa 1870-1890

Moulded Copper with Solder Joints

Size: 9.5 x 23 x 13 in; 24.1 x 58.4 x 33 cm

Rare and desirable example of an late 19th century copper gargoyle, produced using the same methods employed to create the more-familiar weathervane forms, where woodworkers were commissioned to carve three-dimensional patterns which became the basis for metal molds. Skilled craftsmen then hammered thin sheet copper on the molds and soldered the two halves together. The resulting form was then coated with a special varnish and gold leaf was applied. In some cases, paint was used for further embellishment.

The ability to produce identical multiples, and the production of catalogs from which the finished product could be ordered, led to an increasing popularity  and a proliferation of forms, including mythological themes such as the present work.

Provenance: Mounted on an post for a Staten Island estate driveway/entry, this gargoyle (along with its non-surviving "sibling") functioned as a "sentry" .  Now in a private collection, New York City from whom the current owner obtained the work