I found this painting on an Art website (http://www.artfindin...SMITH/8633.html)
I you look closely, you'll notice that the anvil is upside down on the stump.
Any clues for this setup except that the real face would have been damaged?

looks like perhaps the bottom is being used as a swage block.

Beautiful church windows on that anvil. I agree with the swage block idea.

Phil

Getting ready for an indoor anvil shoot?

He just doesn't want to get any Velveeta cheesy slopp on the face during lunch....... :P

There is a lot of symbolism in art. Especially old European art. The didn't have TV, no Internet and no movie theaters. Art wasn't just fun to look at. It was almost always commissioned as artist couldn't afford to paint simply what they wanted. It was usually what they were told to paint. Consequently, painters and other artist became the editorialists of the day and their work often contained hidden as well as deliberately not so hidden messages. Perhaps this inverted anvil was a commentary about the times. Maybe the economy was particularly bad at the commission of this work. Since blacksmiths played such a large role in the community, could an up-side-down anvil represent this economic decline?? Or did I totally miss the boat in my college Art History class :D

There is a lot of symbolism in art. Especially old European art. The didn't have TV, no Internet and no movie theaters. Art wasn't just fun to look at. It was almost always commissioned as artist couldn't afford to paint simply what they wanted. It was usually what they were told to paint. Consequently, painters and other artist became the editorialists of the day and their work often contained hidden as well as deliberately not so hidden messages. Perhaps this inverted anvil was a commentary about the times. Maybe the economy was particularly bad at the commission of this work. Since blacksmiths played such a large role in the community, could an up-side-down anvil represent this economic decline?? Or did I totally miss the boat in my college Art History class

@ Dodge, see your ma was right education aint wasted time......

This was my thought since it is a painting I could not have put it anywhere near this clearly though.

Dodge, your explanation sounds very good to me. You may be right about this. Thanks.

I DID look very closely and that anvil is surely right side UP! It is just an older type of anvil and so looks a bit strange to modern eyes. You can clearly see the wear and crowning on the top surfaces if you click on the picture to see it enlarged. It even has a hole in the center of the anvil for tooling.

The "actual" title of the painting was"The morning after the party at the smithy" :D :D

I wonder how they got their wives to work in the shop...

Ya I think you may be on to something ianinsa- the kid looks like he had too much punch

i think this is more than symbolism
if you look you can see that the anvil is pined to the stump through the pritchel hole so i am inclined to think this being used as a swadge block

I DID look very closely and that anvil is surely right side UP! It is just an older type of anvil and so looks a bit strange to modern eyes. You can clearly see the wear and crowning on the top surfaces if you click on the picture to see it enlarged. It even has a hole in the center of the anvil for tooling.

You do seem to be correct it is up right , the photo shows it was done in 1831

I DID look very closely and that anvil is surely right side UP! It is just an older type of anvil and so looks a bit strange to modern eyes. You can clearly see the wear and crowning on the top surfaces if you click on the picture to see it enlarged. It even has a hole in the center of the anvil for tooling.

Your wrong, the anvil is clearly upside down. Look at the huge horn on the bottom sticking to the left. No one ever put a horn on the bottom of an anvil. Also no one ever put a hole in the middle of the face of an anvil, it must be a handling hole. Handling holes are shallow square holes that are forged into anvils why they are being built. They are used to help move the anvil around while forging.

"Colonial" anvil , http://www.anvilfire.com/bookrev/postman/postman.htm And http://www.blackiron.us/anvil-types.html

in 1831 theColonial Anvils had many sides and uses .

Sam

I am going to stay with "upside down" if you look at the surface against the stump it appears to have dressed edges. You may have to open the image in a separate window or tab to enlarge it and see.

Phil

I am not saying that they never hammered on the bottom or the sides. Its vary likely they were using it at a swage. But regardless there is a horn on the bottom of the anvil, and the church windows are arched upside down. Clearly there is a top to the anvil, and the anvil is upside down.

Yeah I didn't see that horn (realize what it was). I think those smiths just thought of it as working on the "other" side... not upside down. You can see that it is worn and crowned on the "face" that is up at the time of the picture. They likely flipped it often depending on the work that they were doing.

I once had an anvil that was nearly identical. From France most likely. the date is Hardto say, but I have seen them in art from the 1700's onward. It too had a hardy hole off on one side which would make me a bit more reluctant to form hardies in it. Not having a swage lock, and considering they are of similar sizes, using the handling hole as a bolster just makes sense. Mine was over 300lbs and had that same Transition from the horn to the body. Also, this is one of the few anvils where the church windows could actually be utilized; some of the. Later period German ones were far too deep and rough to do much good with forming in. Lastly, the curve between the heel and the of anvil had a very nice shape for forming. Large (or small) radiused shapes.

Also not that just before the horn there is what looks like a large nail, or bolt protruding from the upside down hard hole...I am thinking this is to hold the anvil steady upside down.

In the description of the painting it says that the artist painted with a "string of humor". So my guess is that this painting is like the puzzle pictures that are in the comic page of the news paper that asks you to find five things wrong with this picture. So did you find all the things wrong with the picture?

I wonder how they got their wives to work in the shop...

There were rules about it. Women could be journeyman smiths in the shop of their husband, father, or brother.

Phil

'I wonder how they got their wives to work in the shop...'

"Honey can you come help with this job? Else we won't eat this week!"

I've used the bottom om my anvils for certain tasks and there was a 5th generation smith in Stroud OK who had an old oilfield bridge anvil with the face pounded to uselessness (pretty common in the old oilfields) who had built a frame to flip it over and used the wide base to flatten plow points on.

In the description of the painting it says that the artist painted with a "string of humor". So my guess is that this painting is like the puzzle pictures that are in the comic page of the news paper that asks you to find five things wrong with this picture. So did you find all the things wrong with the picture?

I dunno guys. At full scale, I'm seeing a horn extending from stump level with the feet clearly spreading out at the top which gives credence to Bentiron's as well as Bidred's posts. To folks back then, that would have been hilarious. Art was also used as entertainment before before movies and television as well as being used as a political platform. How many other "whats wrong with this picture" things can you see?? :D

Whoever the artist was he's surely laughing his keester off at us right now, he was likely buried face down so the whole world can kiss his bum.... :lol: ...Just like the anvil. It's a church window anvil right? And the arches are always at the top, right? I still think there my be some ceedence to the Velveta lunch senario, The boy is eating and the maid at the forge is holding a bowl, eagerly anticipating the hot, gooey, golden sludge ......... :P