Happy Valentine's Day. It's a lovely Spring day in southern Oregon and a good time to reach out to others with like interests.
There have been some marvelous Hendryx cages on the internet lately. I love to watch the cages come and go, sell or get relisted.
There's a gentleman 'out there' who is refurbishing the Hendryx scalloped cages. He's taking off the rust, refinishing them, stocking them with feeders and perches (original if available), and selling them on ebay as usable cages for feathered friends. He even includes a copy of the original care pamphlet that came with the cage when purchased.
There is a woman 'out there' who has impeccable taste in brass cages. I drool over the cages, bid on them, but she wins the bids. I'd love to see her home with the cages I've seen her purchase lately. Some are the best of the best.
Just when I think that I've seen the full array of Hendryx cages, something new comes up. Today I'd like to share with you an interesting, modified Hendryx cage. A woman contacted me recently about a cage she had. She was requesting information about the cage. She gave me permission to use it on the blog so that is what we are going to discuss.
Let's get some pictures in here first.
OK, what are your thoughts? What do you see? Interesting, isn't it?
The size of the cage is 12.5 X 15 X 15.5 inches. From base to top of scroll work is 24.5 inches.
The door tag has patent dates ranging from Oct. 27 (18)74-Dec. 20 (18)81.
The base has the Hendryx name on it.
I'm going to tell you what I see when looking at these pictures. You see if you agree. If you don't (remember, I'm just a Hendryx hoarder, not a professional), please write in and discuss what you see.
I see:
- an antique Hendryx cage that has after-market modifications by a metal artisan. A person with a creative mind and a careful hand modified this cage.
- I found this cage (unmodified) in my Hendryx trade catalogues from 1891 and 1904.
- The top scroll work has been added as you can see in the last photo. There's a nifty screw latch that holds the scroll work onto the cross bar of the cage.
- The bow has been added. On an enlarged photo, one can see solder marks on the cage near the bow. The Andrew B. Hendryx Co. did not use solder on their cages. They revolutionized cage making with their riveted construction. Bird vermin could collect and hide in the solder work and the company was very careful to build cages without using solder.
- The feet have been added. Although I haven't seen the attachment site on top of the base, my guess is that there is a screw to hold the feet in place. I've checked out my 4 Hendryx trade catalogues and haven't seen any cage with feet like this. The most elaborate cages had bases with open-lattice work or wooden bases. Most had the simple base with the slide clasps as seen in the photo, with either short cone-like feet or round nub-like feet.
- The finial has been added or modified. Hendryx finials incorporated a loop for hanging if the owner wished to do so.
- The in-bent wires where the feeders go have been cut to allow generic porcelain feeders to fit. This cage would have used the "T" feeders or the open opal glass feeders. This cage comes with Japanese feeders.
- This cage was well cared for. All the wires are intact except the feeder wires. The 4 slide clasps are present and in working order to hold the cage to the base. The scroll work was made to the size that would fit between the wires of the roof requiring only a little separation of the wires. The clean-out tray is still present. Most of the time these trays has been tossed by the time these cages come to market.
That's all I can think of at this time. It's a unique cage in excellent condition and it's for sale. If you are interested in talking with the owner, let me know and I will put you two together.
I would really appreciate comments on this cage. What are your thoughts about cage modifications? I talked on an earlier post about painting cages. What do you think?
Have a great Valentine's Day and a wonderful week. 'Til next time,
Hendryx Hoarder,
Barbara
