This weathervane likely sat atop a building for much of its history before it was taken down and collected as an example of American folk art sometime in the 20th century. Weathervanes are celebrated both as functional crafts and as some of the earliest non-Indigenous sculpture in the United States: artistic and technological marvels found across the country’s rooflines. As emblems of flight and freedom, wingspread eagles like this were a particularly popular subject within this art form.