Here is the story behind this beauty.  It was in the late Warren Kernells collection, he owned Southside Electric in St Louis.  He collected fans for a lifetime it seems.  He passed away years ago and his fans were sold.  I was in the building fairly early in the selling of the collection and was about to obtain this wonderful fan.  I would imagine it was like most of those fans and it just sat on the shelf for many years.  I wiped the dust and dirt off of it and it appears to have been over sprayed at some point in its life.  That finish didn't bother me because it was such an early example.   This is an early model probably 1897 with the cast tag and large open rear motor with the spines that run all the way to the edges of the motor housing.  There is one s wire that is detached from the rear ring.  The switch looks like it has been epoxied back together but it functions smooth and correct.