Iron at Winterthur by Donald L Fennimore HC First 1st VG 2004,large scale photos

Description

Fennimore, Donald L.
Iron at Winterthur
Hardcover, ISBN
9780912724638
, Publisher: Winterthur Publications, Winterthur, DE, 2004; Lightly
Used. Khaki
cloth
boards
with white stamped lettering. Color-illustrated dust jacket with white lettering. 428 pp. B/W illustrations from large scale photos with detailed and curated descriptive text. "Iron stands as a preeminent record of the metal's significant role in the lives of all Americans, from the beginnings of European settlement until the advent of the industrial revolution in the mid nineteenth century." "It is not surprising that museum founder Henry Francis du Pont chose to amass iron.
Winner of the Montgomery Prize, Decorative Arts Society (2004), Iron at
Winterthur, a catalogue of the extensive but unpublished collection at the museum, will fill an oft-neglected niche in the field of decorative arts--that of the history and use of iron in the everyday life of seventeenth-, eighteenth-, and nineteenth-century America. With essays and entries on approximately 300 cast, wrought, and sheet iron objects for every conceivable household function, the author not only addresses the specifics of maker, date, place of origin, and the like but also presents thematic and interpretive commentary dealing with economics, craft and manufacturing techniques, and the marketplace. And not to be denied is the issue of aesthetics. Mr. Fennimore adeptly weaves the story of skill and artistry, illuminating the grace and beauty inherent in everyday iron objects. Equally instructive is the book's introduction, which documents the formation of the collection by museum founder Henry Francis du Pont, one of the twentieth-century's most notable collectors of Americana..