LOT DETAILS

Materials:

a pair bronze

Size Notes:

heights 34 3/4 in.; 88.3cm.

Description:

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Markings:

Andirons or firedogs are a pair of metal supports for firewood which can placed in a hearth. A horizontal iron bar extends into the fire to support the wood, with vertical bronze supports at the front to prevent the logs falling forward. During the 16th and 17th century, particularly in Venice, these vertical supports became more elaborate with allegorical figures, often related to the element of Fire. Andirons were produced, like many other functional bronze objects such oil lamps, inkwells and candlesticks, by a vibrant community of foundries and artists based in and around La Serenissima. Peta Mottures illuminating study, presented at the 1999 Washington symposium Large Bronzes in the Renaissance, explored the complex and poorly documented relationship between the leading sculptors and the foundries. A few andirons are signed, such as a pair in the Victoria and Albert Museum signed by Giuseppe de Levis, whilst others are initialed. However, it is more often than not impossible to securely attribute individual pairs of andirons.