October, 1916 29 
THE COLOR VALUE OF WROUGHT IRON WORK 
Including a Brief Survey of Both Colonial and Renaissance Designs 
HENRY T H U R S TO N 
Above is a Balti- 
m o r e residence 
roith wr o u g h t 
iron balustrade 
Even the humble 
footscraper re¬ 
ceived the crafts¬ 
man’s attention 
m m KX 
k HE lasting 
success of the 
original Colonial 
architecture of 
America is un¬ 
questionably d u e 
to the marked per¬ 
fection of its de¬ 
tails. And it is 
these very details 
that become stumb¬ 
ling blocks to those 
who, in modern 
work, are so rash 
as to attempt an 
“improvement” up¬ 
on the original. 
In the hands of 
the old architect- 
builders details 
were treated with 
due regard to their 
intrinsic propor¬ 
tion and their rela¬ 
tion to the general 
mass and color of 
the structure. Not 
the least of these 
was the exterior 
wrought iron work 
that became a dis¬ 
tinctive craft in 
Colonial and Post- 
Colonial times, 
specimens of which 
still grace the fa¬ 
cades of many old 
residences from 
Charleston and 
Baltimore, up 
through Philadel¬ 
phia and New 
York to Puritan 
New England. A 
few examples 
found in New Or¬ 
leans fall under a 
different head, as 
they were mainly 
importations from 
Spain or copies and 
not truly products 
of the Colonial 
craftsmanship. 
Except in rare 
instances, iron was 
not used in a struc¬ 
tural capacity until 
recent times, but 
its value as a me¬ 
dium for decora¬ 
tive detail seems 
always to have 
been appreciated. 
It became an im¬ 
portant factor in 
Renaissance archi¬ 
tecture and ever 
since has been considered a requisite con¬ 
tributing factor to the beauty of many dif¬ 
ferent types of structures. 
Apart from its obvious utility, it has a 
distinct color value. The touch of black 
iron on a house works the same subtle 
tures, the red and 
white of brick and 
the silvered tones 
of stone. Placed 
against them, iron 
work gave a subtle 
enlivening touch. 
Moreover, the 
curves and twists 
of this work acted 
as a distinct relief 
from the predom¬ 
inating straight 
lines of Colonial 
and Georgian ar¬ 
chitecture. 
The forms which 
this work took 
were numerous— 
balustrades, balco¬ 
nies, rain - water 
heads, foot- 
scrapers, shutter 
catches, and occa¬ 
sionally the initials 
and date of build¬ 
ing set between 
walls, on chimneys 
or over doors. 
These were not ap¬ 
plied haphazard; 
each had a logical 
reason for being 
included in the 
structural scheme. 
Thus, in Baltimore 
and Philadelphia, 
it was the custom 
for the houses to 
approach the 
line; the 
building 
In Philadelphia, where the houses approached the building line, a suitable entrance for 
the door had to be provided. This was effected by stone steps and an iron railing. The 
color value of the iron can be visualized from this combination with bricks and stone 
magic that a touch of black works on a 
woman’s dress—it throws the other colors 
into a higher key, intensifies them, gives 
them life by the marked contrast. 
The colors of Colonial architecture were 
the greys and white of the painted struc- 
garden being in the 
rear. The need for 
a suitable and prac¬ 
tical approach, 
therefore, was ap¬ 
parent. Moreover, 
in many instances, 
the doorways 
themselves were of 
the most ornate de¬ 
sign—as numerous 
examples sho w— 
and required this 
fitting a p p r o a ch 
since they were set 
in a prominent po¬ 
sition above the 
window line of a 
basement or cellar 
course. Stone steps 
were almost inva¬ 
riably used for 
this sort of stoop, 
and wrought iron 
for the balusters, 
newel posts and 
footscrapers. 
While the designs for balusters in vogue 
were numerous, they were usually develop¬ 
ments of three types: the lyre, the geomet¬ 
rical figure, mainly the ellipse, and the ar¬ 
row. Examples of all three are shown in 
the illustrations. Prom these we would 
