February, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



79 



co-operation of the village schoolmaster in her efforts. The 

 youths developed an unexpected aptitude and desire for the 

 work, the fascination and possibilities of which they quickly 

 realized. In order to foster this enterprise a small building 

 was secured, in which a forge and the necessary implements of 



Garden Gates for Lady Maple 



the trade were installed. The students soon became expert in 

 simple bent iron work, and attempted the execution of better 

 articles, fashioned upon their own artistic lines, or copied 

 masterpieces of this craft executed in the middle centuries. 



As the work progressed it aroused the interest of architects 

 and designers, who, although demanding such hand-wrought 

 art iron work for various forms of embellishment, had either 

 to send their designs to the continental workers, or be satis- 

 fied with the more mechanical machine work. King Edward 



Top Central Section of Gateway Ornamented With Iron Carnations ; Each 

 Petal Was Wrought Separately and Then Welded Into Position 



VII was among the first to recognize the value of the enter- 

 prise, and one of the first contracts the Thornham artists 

 undertook for the reigning sovereign was a swinging lamp for 

 the hall at Sandringham. This specimen aroused such wide- 

 spread interest on account of its workmanship and beauty of 

 design that a replica was ordered for the Paris Exhibition of 

 1900. The late Queen Victoria was also deeply interested in 

 the art, and a beautiful imperial lamp, the floriation of which 

 is emblematic of empire, was specially prepared for her. The 

 whole of the work was carried out by hand, and the decora- 

 tion was of a most intricate and difficult nature, comprising 

 the delicate combination of roses, thistles, and shamrocks with 

 the lotus flower of Egypt. 



Polished Iron Hinges for Mrs. Berkeley, Hanwell Castle 



This unique work is carried out in an ordinary village cot- 

 tage secured for the purpose, and the interior of which has 

 been adapted to the requirements of the industry. The 

 stranger's attention is arrested by a large design placed over 

 the door executed by the workers, and which is a replica from 

 the Cathedral at Lucca, while projecting from the building 

 into the street is a swinging sign representing the sons of 

 Tubal Cain. The workshop is a smithy purely and simply. 

 Of machines there are none, with the exception of a driller. 

 The whole of the work is produced by hammer and anvil, a 

 great part of it being undertaken in cold Iron. 



The workers are drawn from the village school, and com- 

 mence operations directly their scholastic curriculum is com- 

 pleted. The lads are initiated into the art by the schoolmas- 

 ter, who is responsible for the greater part of the designs, a 

 large majority of which are quite original in character, 

 though there is an extensive collection drawn from all parts 

 of the Continent. Should the youth evince no prominent sign 

 of artistic creation, he is then taught the usual trend of iron 

 smiths' work. 



A large amount of work Is carried out by the workers for 

 architects, designers, and artists. 



