Help ID Bird Hood Ornament

[Guest TicketMan4u]

Hope someone here can help me identify this hood ornament. It came in a box of hood ornaments I bought recently at auction. I found some 1930's Chevrolet hood ornaments that looked similar but not any that look exactly the same.

It's made out of a gray colored non-metallic metal, I'm guessing pot metal, and came with two brass screws in the base. It looks like it has some traces of silver paint on top of black paint in the groves that run down both sides of the single folded back wing. It also has slight traces of yellow paint on top of silver around the eyes.

The following weight and measurements are all approximate.

weight 13.2 oz.

length of base 6-1/4"

top of wing end to end 4-7/8"

end of wing to tip of nose 6-7/8"

base to top of wing 2-1/2"

base width 5/8"

width of wing tapers front to back from 3/8" to 1/4"

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Curti]

It appears to be an after market mascot for a 35 Chev.

[West Peterson]

I suspect aftermarket, too, but I think the base is wrong for '35 Chev. I think it would be for '36.

[Curti]

The 35 Master is pretty close. The 35 Standard has the same bird but is attached to a chrome cap.

[Guest TicketMan4u]

Thanks for the input, I was afraid it wasn't original. Aftermarket sounds like such an ugly word when you're thinking about value. When I was looking I saw the '35 and '36 had some similarities but the birds were nowhere near the same. The bases were too long up front also. The closest I come on the base was the '37.

I did find photos of one where I think the bird looked exactly like this one but again the base was wrong. It was identified in the same photo twice as being off the "1935-1938 Chevrolet" models then later as a "1938? Chevrolet Bird". Take a look and see what you think.

Chevrolet Hood Ornaments - Do It Yourself Hot Rod Kustom Website

[Curti]

I sold pre-war Chevy parts for many years. During that time I saved the best mascots for a collection which I still have. Below is my take on the website.

20's I have never seen one of these. The earliest hood ornment I know of is the 1927 Spirit of St Louis

1928 griffin is correct Chev also offered a winged wheel that year.

30's emblem is 1937 trunk

35-38 Chevrolet is 35 master only

the next two pix are 36 standard

'other one' is 36 master

To the best of my knowlage there was only one ornment in 1938 and it is pictured.

The entire sequence of mascots is missing many standard and masters throught out the years

[Guest TicketMan4u]

My knowledge is ever increasing. This is why I try not to just trust what I read on a web site somewhere then bring it to a forum of learned members for feedback.

I found another one somewhere else and I can't find it again now but it was listed as being off a 1930 Chevrolet. Again the bird looked the same but not the base. Trouble was with this info when I started looking up photos of 1930 Chevrolet vehicles on the web, none of them had hood ornaments. So again someone else attributes a title to an object with nothing to back it up.

I thank all of those who helped as it keeps me from repeating someone else's mistake when I post a photo or make a comment.

[Curti]

This is the 29-30 cap

[CarterKC]

Did you ever figure this out?  lol

We can't find an exact match, either.