18thc. Set Antique Federal Fireplace seamed urn brass andirons wire fender tools
A complete Federal, period, 18th c. Original large heavy fireplace set. This came from the family of Peter Salem the Revolutionary War patriot from Worcester, MA. Everything above was made at the turn of the 18th/19th century. Every brass part you see above was hand made and sand cast by a Brazier/Coppersmith of the day. All the brass parts are heavy, thick gauge, brass. Large heavy Urn tops on andirons. Federal Era period brass ALWAYS is seamed and was made of 2 exact duplicate halves. There were no machinery back then making molds in seconds. These brass pieces were all hanad hammered brass made in halves then sand cast, then seam soldered together seamlessly. If you look closely on each brass piece above, there are 2 opposing visible seam lines on every piece of brass. Each andiron has 2 heavy brass parts that unscrew. One of the screws is stripped. Took months of hard craftsmanship labor to make. The fire dog wrought iron legs were hand forged. If you look at the legs, you can clearly see several layers of billet steel, laid on top of each other, until they got the desired thickness at height and foot.
Then all the billets are fire/forge welded together. Post 1840 these iron parts were typically cast in molds and not wrought. The fender is also of the period. It has the early 18th c.
Steel wire design, instead of thin stiff rods which were machine made. Again, all brass was hand hammered. And connected by rivets that are ball peen hammered over to secure and lock together.There are no bolts and nuts on this fender. Original sheet steel has some wear. The 2 tools also have double seamed brass tops/bodies, and hand forged wrought iron. The shovel has some chips in the edges and near the rivets.
Tongs are great shape with no issues. The top brass part of the shovel has been un-peened over and now is not secure and comes off. There is also a slight ding and dent in at top of brass of shovel. If you look closely you can see the hand cut thread posts on both the andirons and shovel.All uneven and hand done. Today if you look at modern andirons post 1850, this would be perfectly straight and the brass held on via a nut on the underside.
On both andirons, the threaded post goes through the billet firedog leg and then out the bottom and ball peened hammered over to secure it. FENDER - 13 lbs, 3 ft wide, 1 ft tall, 1 feet deep. TONGS - iron 18" long, overall 27.5" shovel - overall 28, weight of both is 5 lbs.ANDIRONS - 2X - 9 lbs. Each, wrought iron firedog leg 19" deep, length front to back, 5" height, 8.25" threaded post, legs 5.75" height, 11.25"width at feet, 6.25 bottom half of brass andiron post piece, 9.5" top half of brass andiron post piece threaded, 21.25 overall height of andirons. 40" X 15" X 19 tall weight - 36 lbs. Set Antique Federal Fireplace seamed urn brass andirons wire fender tools" is in sale since Tuesday, February 5, 2019. This item is in the category "Antiques\Architectural & Garden\Fireplaces, Mantels & Fireplace Accessories".
The seller is "55live" and is located in Johnston, Rhode Island. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Decade: 1790
- Material: Brass
- Original/Reproduction: Antique Original
- Type: Andiron
- Features: Period