Vintage Virginia Metal Crafters 1948 Brass Butterfly Bush Leaf Dish

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...

A very nice MCM brass crucifix with Jesus on the cross, circa 1970s. Nice weight and detail. #3854

Beautiful antique brass Irish Setter dog figural ashtray dating from the 1920s. Signed on the back. Made by Virginia Metalcrafters. Made of cast brass and has a wonderful patina. In ...

Uncommon cast mixed metal Japanese import souvenir. Over 4 inches long, and about 3/4 of a pound. Impressed marking to verso.