AFA Summer 2021

Summer 54 www.afamag.com | w ww.incollect.com This patriotic Federal-era vane is made of bell metal, a type of bronze with a high copper-to-tin ratio, which has been used to cast bells since ancient times. The possible creator of this vane is Paul Revere (1735–1818), a silversmith, engraver, businessman, and bell maker. Revere cast hundreds of bells at his foundry in Boston between 1787 and when he and his son Joseph moved the foundry to Canton in 1804; this cast bell-metal vane may have been made at one of them. The vane’s design was likely inspired by the Great Seal of the United States, approved by Congress in 1782. Fig. 4: Eagle and Shield, Artist unidentified, possibly Boston or Canton, Massachusetts, ca. 1800. Cast bell metal, 36 x 43½ x 4 in. American Folk Art Museum; Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Francis S. Andrews (1982.6.4). Photograph by John Parnell