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Sunset on Pyramids I Art Print Satie, Alain 27.5 in. x 19.625 in. Buy at AllPosters.com Framed Mounted From the days of the Egyptians wrought iron and cast iron have provided civilised man with the major part of his tools, weapons and utensils and with many decorative objects. Wrought iron can be hammered, drawn or twisted and still maintain its strength. Parts can be completely fused by welding. Even when cold, iron is sufficiently soft to be hammered and bent. Cast iron in its moulded form is too brittle for further manipulation but lends itself readily to the finest details of the mould.
It is mainly since the Middle Ages that wrought iron has been developed as a medium of artistic expression. By collaring, or attaching separate units by strips, by rivetting, bolting, threading and mortising, the exacting material could be made to yield astonishing variety. In England ironwork developed from the bar which gave structural strength to windows, door hinges, grilles and screens. Stone tracery was imitated in iron by means of small pieces rivetted and chiselled on a sheet background, as in the grille over the tomb of Edward IV in St George's Chapel, Windsor, the work of John Tresilian. The hinges of the west door of Notre Dame, Paris illustrate the controlled grace and the intricacy of medieval French ironwork.
The quatrefoil grilles and the lanterns of city palaces indicate the use made of iron by Italian craftsmen. In Renaissance Spain wrought iron was magnificently used for monumental screens with vertical columns of hammered ornamentation and horizontal bands of arabesques, the whole crowned with elaborate crests. The iron was coloured and gilded with striking effect in the dim church interiors. The Spaniards also used iron for pulpits and lecterns.
It was, however, in France during the age of Louis XIV that the art of wrought iron reached its greatest heights. Imposing gates for parks, mansion staircases and screens for churches were produced by a succession of fine artists. St Cloud, Fontainebleau, Chantilly and Versailles offer notable examples. In the 18th century, ironwork adapted itself to Rococo forms although Lamour, in the gates at Nancy, reached the limits of the craft as a monumental technique. Jean Tijou brought the French style to England where his exquisite work can be seen at Hampton Court and St Paul's, London. He influenced but did not dominate the native craftsmen, who produced admirable work during the 17th and 18th centuries for country houses and for the colleges of Cambridge and Oxford.
Cast iron had long been in use in England for fire backs and fire dogs and the railing of St Paul's was an early instance of its architectural use. Further examples are provided by the balconies and porches of the Regency period.
In the Far East, iron was used from about 500 B.C., rapidly replacing bronze for weapons and domestic utensils. From the 9th century in China it even tended to replace bronze for sculpture. Iron pagodas and temple furniture and even iron pictures were ingeniously devised. Medieval Japanese craftsmen showed great sensibility for the material, especially in the decoration of armour and the embellishment of sword handles.
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