﻿February, 
  1907 
  

  

  AMERICAN 
  HOMES 
  AND 
  GARDENS 
  

  

  77 
  

  

  The 
  Revival 
  of 
  Artistic 
  Hand 
  -Wrought 
  Iron 
  Work 
  

  

  A 
  Unique 
  Village 
  Craft 
  in 
  England 
  

  

  By 
  Frederick 
  Bottal 
  

  

  HE 
  progress 
  of 
  science 
  and 
  the 
  development 
  

   of 
  machinery 
  has 
  brought 
  about 
  a 
  sad 
  deca- 
  

   dence 
  in 
  an 
  artistic 
  type 
  of 
  home 
  decora- 
  

   tion 
  and 
  embellishment 
  which 
  in 
  the 
  Middle 
  

   Ages 
  had 
  an 
  extensive 
  vogue 
  in 
  Europe. 
  

   This 
  is 
  the 
  industry 
  of 
  artistic 
  hand- 
  

   wrought 
  iron 
  work. 
  Specimens 
  of 
  this 
  

   work, 
  which 
  unfortunately 
  have 
  now 
  become 
  very 
  rare, 
  may 
  

   be 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  old-world 
  buildings, 
  both 
  public 
  and 
  private, 
  

   which 
  have 
  stood 
  the 
  storm 
  of 
  centuries 
  in 
  European 
  coun- 
  

   tries, 
  and 
  which 
  are 
  now 
  highly 
  prized 
  by 
  their 
  owners. 
  In 
  

   fact, 
  so 
  rarely 
  are 
  examples 
  of 
  the 
  work 
  brought 
  upon 
  the 
  

   market 
  that 
  high 
  values 
  are 
  realized. 
  It 
  was 
  only 
  recently 
  

   that 
  a 
  well-known 
  English 
  admirer 
  of 
  this 
  handicraft 
  pur- 
  

   chased 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  gates 
  executed 
  in 
  the 
  sixteenth 
  century 
  for 
  

   the 
  sum 
  of 
  $30,000. 
  Indeed, 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  prices 
  realized 
  for 
  

   typical 
  examples 
  of 
  this 
  medieval 
  handiwork 
  have 
  been 
  most 
  

   fabulous, 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  limit 
  of 
  the 
  supply. 
  The 
  majority 
  of 
  

   the 
  remaining 
  examples 
  are 
  now 
  public 
  property, 
  and 
  conse- 
  

   quently, 
  being 
  in 
  the 
  hands 
  of 
  the 
  respective 
  governments, 
  

   will 
  now 
  be 
  impossible 
  of 
  acquisition 
  by 
  the 
  amateur. 
  

  

  The 
  industry 
  received 
  its 
  death 
  blow 
  from 
  the 
  advent 
  of 
  

   mechanical 
  methods 
  of 
  producing 
  the 
  work, 
  both 
  more 
  ex- 
  

   peditiously 
  and 
  cheaply, 
  albeit 
  not 
  so 
  artistically 
  or 
  thor- 
  

   oughly. 
  True, 
  there 
  are 
  still 
  in 
  existence 
  a 
  certain 
  number 
  

   of 
  foundries 
  or 
  smithies 
  where 
  the 
  art 
  is 
  practised, 
  scattered 
  

   throughout 
  France, 
  Belgium, 
  Spain, 
  and 
  Italy, 
  but 
  the 
  art 
  is 
  

   rapidly 
  becoming 
  a 
  lost 
  one, 
  the 
  present 
  workers 
  not 
  possess- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  skill 
  or 
  artistic 
  taste 
  of 
  their 
  forefathers, 
  who 
  were 
  

   bred, 
  born, 
  lived, 
  and 
  died 
  in 
  the 
  atmosphere 
  and 
  amid 
  the 
  

   surroundings 
  of 
  the 
  handicraft. 
  In 
  Great 
  Britain, 
  especially, 
  

   where 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  centuries 
  ago 
  there 
  flourished 
  numerous 
  

   villages 
  and 
  centers 
  where 
  the 
  art 
  was 
  practised, 
  the 
  workers 
  

   lost 
  their 
  skill 
  and 
  taste 
  for 
  the 
  craft, 
  with 
  the 
  result 
  that 
  the 
  

   industry 
  soon 
  became 
  quite 
  extinct. 
  

  

  Within 
  recent 
  years, 
  however, 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  manifested 
  a 
  

   revival 
  of 
  the 
  handiwork, 
  enthusiastically 
  fostered 
  by 
  the 
  

   King 
  and 
  several 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  aristocracy, 
  with 
  the 
  result 
  

  

  that 
  there 
  has 
  arisen 
  a 
  new 
  demand 
  for 
  this 
  type 
  of 
  decora- 
  

   tion. 
  This 
  revival 
  is 
  attributable 
  to 
  the 
  energies 
  of 
  a 
  lady, 
  

   Mrs. 
  Edith 
  Ames-Lyde, 
  the 
  Lady 
  of 
  the 
  Manor 
  of 
  Thorn- 
  

   ham. 
  She 
  has 
  so 
  succeeded 
  in 
  imbuing 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  the 
  

   village 
  with 
  a 
  taste 
  for 
  the 
  work 
  that 
  a 
  flourishing 
  industry 
  

   has 
  been 
  created. 
  

  

  The 
  village 
  of 
  Thornham 
  is 
  quite 
  removed 
  from 
  the 
  hum 
  

   and 
  bustle 
  of 
  the 
  manufacturing 
  centers, 
  situated 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  

  

  Entrance 
  Gates 
  Made 
  for 
  the 
  Countess 
  of 
  Warwick 
  

  

  the 
  agricultural 
  county 
  of 
  Norfolk 
  with 
  the 
  nearest 
  township 
  

   some 
  five 
  miles 
  distant. 
  It 
  is 
  an 
  old-world 
  village, 
  character- 
  

   istic 
  of 
  the 
  remote 
  parts 
  of 
  England. 
  With 
  its 
  old-fashioned 
  

   houses, 
  and 
  its 
  single 
  straggling, 
  dreary 
  village 
  street, 
  and 
  its 
  

  

  A 
  Polished 
  Black 
  Iron 
  Casket 
  Made 
  for 
  Lady 
  Rothschild 
  

  

  Gates 
  with 
  Top 
  Sections 
  Executed 
  in 
  Carnations 
  and 
  Other 
  Flowers 
  

  

  