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The Decorative Art of
Metalware
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Metalware
have produced amazing scrolls, folds, twists, textures,
and weaves not normally associated with the hard
material. With heat, hammer, talent, and muscle, the
artist-blacksmith has forged exciting Metalware that
permeate our surroundings.
The elegant yet
practical chrome and brass houseware Metalware were
issued at the height of Deco's popularity. Objects by
such industrial design pioneers as Lurelle Guild, Walter
Von Nessen, Russel Wright and Harry Laylon of 20th
century decorative arts. Also at the forefront of the
Art Deco movement were Metalware and sculpture, made by
highly skilled craftsmen and artists. One can see the
creative designs of Hagenauer, WMF, the Bauhaus,
Ferdinand Priess, Chiparus, Brancusi, and Brandt, among
other important Metalware workers of the
era.
One of the many unique items to
collect in Metalware are doorstops. As long as there
have been doors there have been doorstops. Early on they
may have been a convenient rock or piece of furniture,
but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, doorstops were
manufactured as decorative Metalware items for the home.
Generally cast in iron, they are avidly sought after by
today's collectors. Though mass produced, they were
usually painted by hand and so each has become a unique
Metalware treasure, appreciated both for its shape and
the "folk art" quality of its finish.
There is no
doubt in my mind that Metalware captures the
magnificence of metal creations including silver, iron,
tin, brass, and pewter. The is a large gamut of
Metalware that a collector can focus on form doorstops
to antique weather vanes. One needs to discover a
treasure-trove of uniquely worldwide items of utility
and beauty. Metalware collecting can be a joy
forever.
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