Pointing at the Wind: The Weather-Vane Collection of the Canadian Museum of Civilization

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Crépeau introduces weather vanes as folk art, as weather-forecasting
tools, as occupational identifiers, and as religious symbolism. In a few
brief notes he explains how weather vanes work, their evolution through
history, their manufacture, their popularity today with collectors, and
some of the challenges of studying this form of Canadiana.

Most of this slim book is devoted to photographs of 104 weather vanes
from the Canadian Museum of Civilization’s collection. For each,
Crépeau describes the materials used, the place of origin, and anything
that is known about the history of the piece. The photos are
professional-quality black-and-white identification shots that emphasize
clarity of detail.

The weather vanes are grouped by motif, and the symbolism of each
discussed. Beaver, horses, cows, fish, pigs, boats, and heraldic motifs
share our rooftops with the most popular motif of all, the rooster.
Weathercocks and chanticleers (fighting cocks) have religious and/or
patriotic significance. Also, the chanticleer’s cascading tail
feathers, puffed-out chest, and saucy comb are appropriate shapes for
encouraging artistic expression.

Anyone interested in Canadiana, folk art, antiques, or early Canadian
social history will value this unique little work.