The morning news., 1892-03-30

tnese products OF the forge as in paintings
or bronzes, 50 much so that a Iocksmith
named Gerard, who had executed an iron
canopy In l769. put il on view for three
days. charging those who would inspect il
8 hvres apiece. This canopy was orig
inally intended for the church OF Ste. Gen
evieve. but the price asked-50, 900 livres-
| proving too much, it was never erected
| there.
ONE ROYAL LoCKsMITH.
The art Of the locksmith was also greatly
appreciated in France, kings even taking
part IN Its practical details; like Louis
XVI, forgetting for a time the cares OF
state In the construction Of lock. One OF
the curiosities Of Paris mentioned oy gilbert
OF Metz in 1422 was certain house in the
| Rue Bourdonnais which possessed as many
| locks as there are days in the year
The lock to a Golfer of fifteenth
century work has a representation Of
paid in 1857 to the mas er blacksmith, one
| Mathurin Bon, as much as Coll livres for
works executed at Fountainebleau. Louis
| XIII amused himself with the art, not only
| giving his lOcksmith pension of 800 livres,
but even setting him apart a room in the
new chateau OF st. German. In the
| eighteenth century much fine work
was prod iced. Mercier 10 his Picture of
| Paris, exclaims: "a locksmith among US
| has become an artist-iron has become as
| supple as wood"
Germany in the fifteenth century pro-
! duced much wrought iron work of q rather
| special character, such as the grave crosses
and sepulchral monuments to be seen in the
| cemeteries OF Nurembu=g. Iron was also
| employed for well canopies, such as that at
| Antwerp attributed to Quentin Matsys.
| Originally blacksmith from Louvain, he
| came to Antwerp to seek his fortune. There,
as the story goes, he fell in love with the
| daughter OF painter, snd, to propitiate the
| daughter as we'll as her father, exohanged
the anvil for the painters palette; and be-
fore his death in 1881 be was successful in
helping to raise the school of Antwerp to a
| celebrity equal to that OF the schools of
| Bruges and Ghenr.
Ironwork was extensively produced at
Augsburg under the fostering care Of the
Fugger family-taking the shape of brack-
/ cts projecting from the walls, and grills
over fan lights or in a balcony. Grotesque
| knockers are also common in Nuremburg
| Keys were sometimes alaborately decorated,
| and the part which is now a common ring
was once occupied by little figures in full
| RELIEF with coats OF arms and the like. The
| French revolution was the cause OF much
splendid ironwork being destroyed, when /,
| In I793, certain provinces had to gather to-
gether every available piece of iron to
transform into pikes and other weapons
| Much of the ironwork of the Abbey of st.
| Denis perished in this way; and even in
| England grllls have besn sold for old iron
| because they hid the sculptures IN West
| minister Abbey. 9ly
THE GRILL WORK OF TO-DAY.
| The greater partS of the decoration of
| grills of the present day is produced by
| means of stamps OF molds, which are inn
| pressed on the iron while heated and soft.
| Supposing leaf or flower is required, one
Of the proper form is forged in relief in
| steel and then is driven into a larger block
| of pasty steel shaped like punch or wedge,
thus forming the stamp or die necessary for
the purpose Of decoration. Leaves. again,
can be hammered out and welded on sepa-
| rately. Up to the reign of Henry VIII. Rrills
were architectural in design, Queen Eliza
| bsth's tomb in the abbey forming one of the
| first instances Of the use Of border Of natural
| howers-rosesy-i sin tomb-ral of iron. The
roses were cut out of sheets of metal,
shaped on the edge Of some instrument like
a wise. and then liked on by brazing. To
make Inscriptions, holes are first drilled and
then very small keyhole saw inserted.
| After the fire of London, iron came largely
into use for building purposes, and very
| fine work was produced IN the reign of
| William III. A Frenchman named rijon
| published a book OF designs in 1893 for the
use OF the smiths, In which ap-
| peared the gates which were a little
1
ton court. and executed by Hunting
| don Shaw, the talented smith,
under the general superintendence of Sir
| Christopher Wren.a The beautiful gates of
chiseled and polished iron now to be seen
in the Louvre are of this period, and were
executed from the designs of Daniel Marot,
| architect to William III. of England.
Wherever the old fashioned red brick
! houses with their tiled roofs and quaint
! dormer windows are to be seen, their iron
staIrcases. ratings, and the like will proba-
| bly, be found, as, for instance, in Lincoln's
Inn Fields or Bloomsbury square and in
many suburbs.
MORE CURIOUS THAN BEAUTIFUL
Cast iron Is not so susceptible of artistic
| treatment as the same material when ham
mered. and the old specimens which have
come down to US are, generally speaking,
more curious than beautiful. Cast iron was
used for cannon-from the fourteenth
century-as well as. for grave slabs, fire.
| dogs or andirons, firebacks, and the like.
! o ie fireback preserved at Bruges is dated
| 1855. and has two figures feet inches
in hight as supporters to the shield with
| which 1t is ornamented. A freback at
| Wadhurst, In Sussex, was very elaborate,
| having beside the royal arms of France and
| England quarterly with supporters. the
| Tudor badge OF rose and crown. a crowned
| shield and ten human figures with monkey
| or dog Like faces, as " ell couple Of swords.
Many firsbacks have scriptural OF classical
subjects; but Que andiron that has been pre-
| served TO US is decorated in more homely
fashion, having on its upper portion figure
in the costume Of the time of James 1. hold
ing a tobacco pipe in the right hand, and in
the left a jug or tankard-the first of which
| decorations would have pleased the royal
author of the "Counterblast."
Such are some OF the various ways in
which iron has been treated deoorstively
from early times which perhaps may prove
not uninteresting at the present dav, when
| wrought iron enters 50 largely into the
Communication of houses, whether for
grills. fanlIghts. balusters and screens. or
| for the pretty lamp stands and bracsIets,
In which a return has been made to early
| Italian workmanship.