Wrought Ironwork

In succession with Blacksmith’s Craft and a facsimile edition of the original 1953 instruction manual, Wrought Ironwork is a practical and essential guide with a focus on technique for the modern smith. With 33 step-by-step lessons and coordinating photography for making a variety of scrolls – from ribbon-end scrolls to beveled scrolls – water leaves, and wavy bars, and eventually onto the creation and assembly of an ornamental gate, practice the fundamentally vital methods to this timeless trade.

Forty plates of meticulously rendered hinges, grilles, railings, latches, door knockers, and more — selected from English chapels, tombs, castles, and other structures — span more than 600 years of metalworking history.

Originally published: Decorative wrought iron work, working drawings and working notes on the making of simple, useful articles from wrought iron, brass and copper. Peoria, Ill.: Manual Arts Press, 1937.

This text contains a detailed guide to wrought ironwork, being a manual of instructions for rural craftsmen. It was prepared by the 'Rural Industries Bureau' to provide technical knowledge and provide apprentices with a basic introduction on this subject. Complete with simple, clear instructions and profusely illustrated, this text will be of much value to the novice ironworker, and it makes for a great addition to collections of antique literature of this ilk. The chapters of this book include: Ribbon-end Scroll, Fishtail-end Scroll, Solid Snub-end Scroll, Fishtail Snub-end Scroll, Halfpenny Snub-end Scroll, Bolt-end Scroll, Making a Scroll Tool, 'C' Scrolls, 'S' Scrolls, Collars, Twists, Wavy Bars, Water Leaves, Square Blockings for Gate Rails, etcetera. We are proud to republish this book now complete with a new introduction on metal work.

This vintage book contains a complete guide to the examples of English wrought-iron work contemporarily held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. For each piece treated it provides a photograph coupled with notable information, including a short description, date, measurements, etc. “English Wrought-Iron Work - Victoria and Albert Museum” is highly recommended for those with an interest in blacksmithing and decorative metalwork, and it is not to be missed by the discerning collector of allied literature. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new introduction on blacksmithing.

Artists have made gates and fences in wrought iron over the centuries in ornamental designs shown here in hundreds of photos. The restoration of wrought iron is discussed and ironwork examples are organized according to their uses, such as gratings that protect doors and windows, entries and gates from Europe in the Middle Ages, artistic creations of the 17th and 18th centuries, and works of our own day.

Invaluable source of information for art historians, craftspeople, dealers, collectors, and preservationists includes hundreds of finely detailed illustrations of garden seats, candelabras, moldings, gates, balcony grilles, vases, crosses, funerary ornaments and monuments, finials, doorknobs and many other ornamental features. A rich source of inspiration and royalty-free graphics, as well, for commercial artists and designers.