This auction is for an outstanding complete lightning rod set up with a purple ball and purple lightning rod insulators or L.R.I. s.
The rod is a copper clad spiral twisted rod with a bronze bayonet tip and cable end holder. It is 64" tall and is on a braided iron c clamp style stand that has the two purple side tab lightning rod insulators. The copper rod and bayonet have a beautiful copper green patina which is all natural and original.
The glass lightning rod ball is a rare purple Hawkeye ball that is very hard to come by and it is in excellent condition with no chips or cracks and is embossed Hawkeye on the bottom fluted skirt. The top is a gorgeous star pattern. The collars of the ball have some slight nibbling which is covered by the caps. This occurs in most lightning rod balls because they can rattle around on the rods in windy conditions. The caps are reproduction copper caps because most original ones are lost. Everything else is original and antique. From the color, the age would be at least 100 years old since purple glass was made with the additon of manganese which turned purple in sun light and was only used in glass making up until about 1907 or the beginning of WWI.
The two purple L.R.I. s (lightning Rod insulators) have the side tab which is a glass protruding tab that locked the insulator into the C Clamp by simply turning it to hold it in place. These are also very rare in this color and are both in very good condition with only some nibbling around the open ends and the bottom one has a tiny pinky nail size flake off the bottom edge.
A great gift for the lightning rod enthusiast, this complete set up is a real find.
We also have other pieces in purple glass to accompany this setup if one is interested. They would include the lightning rod insulators with metal collars for carrying the heavy copper cable wire from the base of the lightning rod to the ground and the very heavy braided copper cable made up of 30 or more strands of copper approximately 30 to 35 feet is available. These could be made available in another auction or buy it now but only to accompany this lightning rod setup.
Please ask any questions and we will get back to you. Payment is expected within 7 days of the end of the auction and shipping will be done with great care in two separate packages. One package for the glass ball and insulators and a long tubular package for the rod and the stand.
We accept paypal, money orders, cashiers checks only, no personal checks.
Thank you for looking