1950s Virginia Metalcrafters Brass Sugar Maple Leaf Sculpture

Beautiful pair of brass spread-wing eagle bookends by Virginia Metalcrafters, stamped 1952. The eagle is shown with its wings fully spread and a laurel branch and bundle of arrows clutched in its left talon. The eagle clutches a Union shield across its breast. The Union shield has a chief with three stars and six stripes completing the design. The eagle motif in décor and Folk Art has been widely used throughout our nation's history, most notably as part of our Great Seal. The founders of the United States were fond of comparing their new republic with the Roman Republic, in which eagle imagery, usually the golden eagle, was prominent. On June 20, 1782, the Continental Congress adopted the design for the Great Seal of the United States depicting a bald eagle grasping 13 arrows and an olive branch with its talons. When Charles Thomson put together the final design for the Great Seal, he placed a bundle of arrows in the eagle's left (sinister) talon. The official description specifies the bald eagle holding "in his sinister a bundle of thirteen arrows." The thirteen arrows are tightly aligned – a symbol of "strength in unity" that's found in the traditional cultures everywhere, from the Romans to the Iroquois— in this case a nod to the unity of the original 13 colonies. William J. Loth founded Virginia Metalcrafters in 1890, under the name Waynesboro Stove Company. The company, which made ornately cast Cook...

Two heavy vintage solid brass leaves, manufactured in Waynesboro, Virginia by Virginia MetalCrafters. The leaves were designed by Oskar Hansen, are hand made, hand finished and of th...

Three vintage solid brass leaves, manufactured in Waynesboro, Virginia by Virginia MetalCrafters. The leaves were designed by Oskar Hansen, are hand made, hand finished and of the hi...

Vintage gold anodized aluminum alloy bowl in the shape of a Sea Grape leaf. The leaf designs were designed by well known sculptor Oskar Hansen for Virginia MetalCrafters in Waynesbor...