Man in Top Hat Whirligig

Circa Late 19th Century: The ingenious construction of this 13.5" tall 19th century man in top hat whirligig is worth noting. The body is made of turned piece of wood, and the anonymous maker carved a rudimentary mouth, applied the wooden nose, and used small tacks for the eyes and suit buttons. he applied a hand turned top hat with a single nail. The canted legs are attached to the body with tiny brads and mortised into the base. The maker drilled through the body to attach the wood and thin hand cut sheet iron blades. Finally, our brilliant anonymous folk artist painted details: black hair and moustache, white top hat and clothing embellishments. Robert Bishop and Patricia Coblentz have documented another example of this whirligig form by the same maker on page 122 of A Gallery of American Weathervanes and Whirligigs (Bonanza Books, 1984) and tell us their whirligig was found in Pennsylvania. This fine whirligig remains in excellent weathered condition and comes with a modern stand.