Pair of andirons

1825-1850

Measurements

19-1/2 in x 10-1/2 in x 17-3/4 in

Materials

Brass, iron

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.823

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner

Comments

These distinctive andirons feature very complex vertical castings of multiple rings and octagonally faceted sections.  The andirons stand on arched legs with three pairs of spurs, all on ball feet.  Of note, the leg arches are higher than the earlier examples from which they derive.  The vertical parts are cast in halves.

The andirons are reminiscent of a pair signed by Edward Smylie of New York City, working from 1827 to 1849.  (See Donald L. Fennimore, Metalwork in Early America:  Copper and Its Alloys from the Winterthur Collection [Winterthur, 1996], cat. no. 66, p. 146.)