Weathervane
Artist
William Hunt Diederich
(American, 1884 - 1953)
Dateca. 1920
MediumSheet metal and wrought iron
DimensionsOverall: 25 × 48 × 1 inches (63.5 × 121.92 × 2.54 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust (by exchange) in honor of Sarah F. Rowland
Object number2013.43
On View
On viewGallery Location
- 218
Collections
DescriptionHorizontally composed weathervane of two polo players in motion, one in front of the other, mallets raised and horses galloping. The whole made of cut sheet metal painted black attached to an arrow.Exhibition HistoryAmerican
Art Deco: Designing for the People, 1918-1939, Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska, June 5 2021–September
5 2021; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City,
Missouri; July 9 2022–January 8 2023, no cat.
Made from sheet metal, this weathervane depicts two polo players in silhouette. The charging legs, open mouths, and wild eyes of the horses express the energy of the scene. The empty space between the figures contributes to the dynamic composition of straight and curved shapes.
Ralph Radcliffe-Whitehead, White Pines, Byrdcliffe, Woodstock, NY, ca. 1920;
By descent to his son, Peter Whitehead, Byrdcliffe, until 1976;
Inherited by Jill and Mark Willcox, Jr. (nephew), until 2012;
With Conner-Rosencranz, LLC, New York, NY by 2013;
Purchased from Conner-Rosencranz, LLC, by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2013.
Jonathan O'Hea, "Bodrero's Polo Players," Maine Antique Digest (September 2022).
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