March 30, 20233 yr Bring in Philadelphia on a business trip and finding myself with a six-hour chunk of free time between appointments, I took myself to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, wherein one may find quite a large collection of ironwork. Much of this was collected by Samuel Yellin on the Museum’s behalf; one of the following pieces is by Yellin himself.
March 30, 20233 yr VERY cool, John. Thank you for posting this. I don't know whether to be inspired or intimidated. Unfortunately, it looks like this museum has followed the modren trend of minimizing labels. I know that you don't want a page of text beside each item but there are folk, like us, who are enthusiasts and want more information. Which one is the Yellin work. I'm going to guess the 24th from the top, the fairly simple grill work on legs. Am I right or off in deep left field? GNM
March 30, 20233 yr I'll go out on a limb and say photo's 11, 12, 13 and 14 from the top are Yellin. Fireplace. Thank you for sharing.
March 30, 20233 yr Author 2 hours ago, George N. M. said: Unfortunately, it looks like this museum has followed the modren trend of minimizing labels. No, I just didn’t photograph the labels! 15 minutes ago, Scott NC said: photo's 11, 12, 13 and 14 Good guess, but nope.
March 31, 20233 yr Author Okay, this will give things away, but here's some more info (with better photography than mine): Photo #1: Grille, 1400-1500, Artist/maker unknown, French Photo #2: Sign Bracket, 16th century, Artist/maker unknown, Flemish Photo #3: Grille, from a doorway, 18th century, Artist/maker unknown, German Photo #4-5: Pair of Gates, 18th century, Artist/maker unknown, Italian Photo #6: Grille, from a doorway, 18th century, Artist/maker unknown, French Photo #7: Flagstaff Holder in the Form of a Dragon, 16th century, Artist/maker unknown, Italian Photo #8: Sign Bracket, 18th century, Artist/maker unknown, French Photo #9: Grille, from a doorway, 17th century, Artist/maker unknown, Italian Photo #10: A display of "Objects of Human Ingenuity"; the pincers are HERE and the dividers are HERE. Photo #11: A selection of keys in the same display; these and others are HERE. Photos #12-15: Fire Dog Screen, 15th century, Artist/maker unknown, Italian Photo #16: Fragment of a Grille, 15th century, Artist/maker unknown, Italian Photo #17: Grille, 15th century, Artist/maker unknown, Italian Photo #18-21: Pair of doors, 1200-1300, Artist/maker unknown, French; additional link Photo #22: Grille, 16th century, Artist/maker unknown, Italian Photo #23: Window Grille. 16th century, Artist/maker unknown, Spanish Photo #24-25: Pair of Doors, 1200-1300, Artist/maker unknown, French Photo #26: Pair of Andirons, 15th century, Artist/maker unknown, French Photo #27-28: Sections of a Railing, c. 1796-1798, Possibly by John Faipoux (French, active in Philadelphia, 1796–1798) Photo #29-31: Bench (one of a pair), 1924, Samuel Yellin (American (born Russia), 1884–1940) (NB: Yellin's birthplace of Mohyliv-Podilskyi was within the Russian Empire at the time of his birth, but is now part of independent Ukraine.) Photo #32: Label for a display of Pennsylvania German ironwork Photo #33: Items in that display, many of which (and others) can be found HERE. Photo #34-37: A number of swords etc from the Arms and Armor collection, all of the on-display swords of which can be found HERE. Not on display was this incredible lock, key, and handle by Yellin himself:
March 31, 20233 yr I had thought about the bench as Yellin work. His lock os a perfect example of too much is never enough. I'd like to know how much of it was done as hot forging and how much was cold chisel and file work. GNM
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