Tipp City Finds 2

The Iron Dog Salvage & Antiques in Tipp City, Ohio, has awesome stuff! Rough wood and factory iron in all shapes and sizes are displayed for sale. I found a mythic eagle that I could not pass up!

Bronze Eagle from Lane & Bodley Sawmill

The moment I saw the eagle, I knew what it was, even though I had never seen another 3-D one. I had seen a 2-D one: in an old-time illustration. People who know me know that I love reading about and studying the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, especially with reference to America’s agricultural heritage. Well, the eagle appeared in illustrations advertising sawmills sold by Lane & Bodley of Cincinnati, Ohio, shortly after the Civil War. The bronze birds came to roost as ornaments atop the saws.

Cut Showing Bronze Eagle Atop Lane & Bodley Sawmill

My guess is that Lane & Bodley did not pour the cast eagles but obtained them from the famous Miles Greenwood Foundry just up the street in Cincinnati. After all, the Greenwood plant had a giant eagle casting on the roof! In the mid-1800s, American bronze casting was in its infancy, particularly for purposes of ornamenting objects such as sawmills. The 1870s witnessed a burgeoning number of bronze objects cast in sand.

Detail of Eagle in Cut (Above)

The Lane & Bodley eagle appears to have been cast in coarse sand and was made in two sections bolted together. In recent times, someone has replaced the original bolts and has brazed over the ends that protrude through the back of the bird; otherwise, the eagle is original and in great condition for its age.

As the national bird, the eagle lends a patriotic look to Lane & Bodley sawmills. I like the way the artist captured the eagle in a natural pose that suggests alighting shortly after flight just before the wings fold. The bird’s stance could also imitate that of an adult eagle feeding hatchlings, even as sawmills feed sawyers’ families. Whatever the artist had in mind, the Lane & Bodley eagle does not conform to the symbolic configurations of many bronze eagles made in the century and a half since it was poured.