Henry II’s Armour and detail (opposite),
French work (detail), c. 1550.

Polished and chiselled iron. Musée du Louvre, Paris.

 

 

 

Wrought iron, European arms, embossed brass, damascened metals

 

The art of working and casting iron goes back to very ancient times. Theodorus of Samos, son of Telecles the Younger, who lived between the fifteenth and twenty-second Olympiad (c. 850 BCE), is believed to have been the inventor of works of sculpture in cast-iron. He was also an architect, sculptor, goldsmith, and engraver of gems.

Among ourselves, with the exception of arms of which we will discuss, iron slowly came into use. In the 11th century it was used in the fastenings of houses, and in the hinges for hanging and strengthening doors. These hinges were extremely primitive. The art of welding iron with the hammer soon modified this simplicity and made such rapid progress that in the 12th century it had almost reached the highest perfection. Nothing is more elegant than the false hinges which then adorned the doors of the churches, including the most charming example from the Neuvy-Saint-Sépulchre. It was, however, essential to the attainment of the desired result that this elegance should be combined with strength. At the beginning of the 13th century, the iron-workers at the head of the profession conceived the notion of doubling the hinges and covering them with reinforcing bands supported by braces meant to increase their strength without impairing the harmony of their effect. The ornamental iron-work on the doors of Notre Dame, executed near the end of the century, presents one of the most beautiful examples of this description of work. We have already seen that it was also used to clamp travelling chests.

As for locks, the oldest dates from the 12th century and progressively improved with the growing skill of the blacksmith. Following the beginning of the 14th century, they have the same forms and open traceries as hinges. Towards the end of this century, the Germans conceived the idea of completing the embellishments of doors and furniture with wrought-iron ornaments or in repoussé sheet-iron. This fashion was adopted in the beginning of the 15th century; wrought-iron, cut in open patterns and mounted on red cloth, came to be used on the plates of locks, latches and bolts. In the course of this and the next century, the iron-workers appear to play with this rebellious metal and to take pleasure in bending it to their fanciful conceits.

In the 16th century, beautiful designs and interest in historical characters were added to this skilled workmanship. Such examples include the pieces emblazoned with the symbols of Francis I with the crests of the prince and his mother Louise of Savoy; also the famous figures of Henry II and his wife Catherine de Médici, so often discussed, which formed grounds for a scandalous ambiguity.

But these locks and bolts are nothing when compared with the keys: masterpieces, real jewels of iron. There, busts, monograms, coronets, historical enigmas are set in these lace-works of tracery or enriched with delicate acanthus, which causes the heads of some of these keys to rival the finest jewellery. The guillochures of their shafts and the complication of their bolts correspond to this elegance. It is, therefore not surprising to find locksmiths competing with other branches of art in the decoration of interiors and see chased and polished iron serve as frames for mirrors of Venetian manufacture.

The chain of events concerning our subject has led us on in spite of time; we must now retrace our steps to notice several works in iron of a highly interesting character. But we must first say one word of those great andirons of twisted forms, the worthy precursors of those made of bronze during the Italian Renaissance. We must mention, too, those wrought-iron trivets, so frequently sought after today as stands for planters, which often forfeit their claim to that designation by having five or six main branches resting upon ornamented circular areas. From the lower of the two springs a bouquet of flowers and fruit in wrought or repoussé iron, such as we see at the base of épis and weathervanes, while the upper is intended to bear a receptacle of any sort, such as an Italian braciere. One may see to what ingenious complications these works in wrought-iron attained by examining the signs which were placed over the gates of celebrated inns, or upon the facades of private houses or hotels. At this period the system of numbering houses had not yet been adopted, another means of distinguishing an individual’s dwelling was needed; ornamental and elegant iron-work stands bearing emblems or well-known crests served to indicate the abode of the person one sought. But far beyond all examples are those magnificent railings of the staircases in the chateaux of the 16th and 17th centuries. We must allude also to the ornamental iron brackets, which, on these staircases or in the vestibules, served as supports for the lanterns of that period.