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Cast Iron Fence Rendered by Pearl Torell watercolor, pen and ink, and graphite on paperboard, 35.4 x 27.9 cm (13 15/16 x 11 in.) Index of American Design 1943.8.16990 |
Object 4 of 17
Decorative ironwork was originally wrought at the forge. Used for gates, grilles, railings, and balconies, such ironwork represented the height of the blacksmith's craft. These decorative pieces first appeared in cities such as New Orleans, Charleston, and Baltimore. By the early nineteenth century, however, foundries were producing popular cast ironwork for other regions. This cast iron panel from a cemetery gate was made in the mid-nineteenth century. The ornate floral and arboreal motifs aretypical of Victorian decoration popular in that period. The lamb resting under a weeping willow tree was a common theme symbolic of grief and appropriate for the panel's use as a cemetery ornament.
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