30 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
Among the designs prevalent 
were the lyre motif and the 
geometrical figure, both of 
which are combined in this 
railing to an old Baltimore 
residence 
The arroiv motif teas another form which had 
a vogue among New England craftsmen. This 
railing on an old Salem house was designed by 
Bullfinch in 1811 
judge that the early 
craftsmen made a distinct 
effort to express in metal 
their sense of rhythm. 
The results were eminent¬ 
ly successful. Of course, 
the work was now and 
again spoiled by individ¬ 
ual idiosyncrasies which 
took the form of over¬ 
elaborateness and rococo 
designs, but the general 
run of Colonial balustrade 
work is simple, straight¬ 
forward, and rhythmic. 
In later times the 
craftsmen developed most 
ornate designs, as will be 
seen by many examples in 
the old section of New 
York. Here the effort 
was mainly centered on 
the newel post which often took floriated 
forms, pineapples and such, for terminals. 
Much of this work, however, suffered from 
the fact that it was cast. And therein lies 
a point of divergence between the original 
and some present-day Colonial work. 
The real beauty of the original work is 
disclosed on close inspection. It was hand- 
wrought. It bore the marks of the hammer. 
Crude in spots, but finished in the whole, 
it was obviously a thing made by the hand 
of man. These forms can now be cast, and, 
where simple lines are required, rolled rods 
can be used, but invariably it will lack 
the hand-forged touch that gave imperish¬ 
able charm to the original work. 
Other Types 
By no means is the use of exterior iron 
restricted to houses of Colonial design. 
Since the architecture of Spain, of France, 
Italy, Germany, Flanders and England all 
include examples of its use, the builder is 
following eminent precedent when he in¬ 
cludes it in the structure designed after the 
old modes of those countries. Thus, a Re¬ 
naissance modification, whatever form it 
the contemporary architecture. 
The craft of wrought iron bears 
an honorable lineage. It is gener¬ 
ally regarded as an offshoot from 
the more ancient craft of the ar¬ 
morer, who was an indispensable 
figure in every feudal community. 
Continental Workmanship 
The training of these armorers 
in manipulating metals into delicate 
forms and weldings, and their skill 
in chasing and inlaying defensive 
armor, found opportunity to display 
its talents in the grilles, gates, locks 
and hinges of the feudal castle it¬ 
self. The Church, as well, demand¬ 
ed skilled design and workmanship 
in this same direction. 
The craft soon spread all over 
civilized Europe, each country 
stamping upon it the impress of its 
own national character. The South 
German Gothic, the Italian Classic, 
and the French passed through va¬ 
rious phases culminating in the 
graceful rococo of the Louis XV 
epoch. The Germans carried the scheme 
of interlaced wrought iron bars in peculiar 
and concentric forms to an extreme of ex¬ 
aggerated and intricate patterns, which 
later became subdued and modified by 
French and Italian influence, the latter con¬ 
fining itself chiefly to the trefoil, quatrefoil 
and cinquefoil patterns. 
In the Netherlands the Teutonic was the 
prevailing style, but little of it now remains 
—if any at all—in Bruges and Brussels 
and at Antwerp and Louvain. 
During the close of the 17th and the be¬ 
ginning of the 18th Centuries France gave 
the greatest opportunity to the smith to 
display his art on a large scale. Examples 
of this can be found in the rococo screens 
and gates of the Palace Royal at Nancy. 
The craftsmen this age produced were Jean 
Lamour, designer of the Nancy work; 
Fordrin, who was responsible for the grace¬ 
ful grilles in the Palais de Justice in Paris, 
and de Cuvilles. These three designers 
greatly influenced work of the period ex¬ 
ecuted in Germany and England. 
The most important work executed in 
Great Britain was that of 
Jean Titjou, who owed his 
prominence to the influ¬ 
ence of Sir Christopher 
Wren. From Wren’s 
work to the Colonial ar¬ 
chitecture of America 
was scarcely more than a 
step across the sea. 
In their turn the Amer¬ 
ican craftsmen succeeded 
in evolving a distinctive 
style, simple and graceful 
in motive, free from the 
rococo patterns whose 
delicacy rendered them 
liable to corrosion in our 
climate. It is from these 
early designs that work 
for modern residences is 
being made by American 
craftsmen and by the 
more ambitious commer¬ 
cial workers in iron. 
Here again, in a Baltimore railing, we find the 
lyre motif included with modified geometrical 
figures and spear rails that are little more than 
forms of the arrow design 
takes, would be incom¬ 
plete without some ex¬ 
terior wrought iron. 
It may be entrance 
lamps, hinges, grilles, 
rails, balustrades or 
balconies. In any in¬ 
stance, it is an integral 
factor of Renaissance 
design and will be 
elaborate or simple as 
the individual architec¬ 
tural problem demands. 
It may have the mar¬ 
velous execution of a 
Jean Titjou, who did 
the gates of Hampton 
Court, or the simplic¬ 
ity of the nameless 
workman whose anvils 
warmed to the iron for 
half a hundred early 
American homes. The 
fashion in iron, of 
course, must be affect¬ 
ed by the fashion in 
