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This time of the year, it’s always nice to keep assorted candles handy in case the electricity goes out, or just to set a certain mood. Votive lights, long elegant tapers, and even coiled beeswax candles are always welcome. A collection of wrought iron candle holders can be very beautiful for your candles, and add a nice decorative touch to your home when they are not being put to use.     U677JUEX663M

I started collecting wrought iron candle holders a long time ago, because I have a passion for anything made from wrought iron, and I like burning candles. Two of my favorite wrought iron candle holders are the Courting Candle and the Outhouse Candle.  It has just a simple base with a round handle and held a long taper.  Kind of like the one Scrooge carried in A Christmas Carol!

Outhouse Candle from A Christmas Carol

I actually lived in the mountains for five years and had an outhouse, so I really came to appreciate the outhouse candle holder and candle. It’s easier to carry “up the hill” than a lantern and gives just enough light to light the way to and from the outhouse and the house.

Another charming candle holder is the Courting Candle, or the Amish Courting Candle.

These candle holders were very popular at the turn of the century, and had a very specific purpose. They functioned as a “courting” timer. When a young man came courting the young lady of a household, the father would check him out, and adjust how long the candle would stay lit based on his impression of the young man. When the candle went out, the young man went home. Of course, being entirely adjustable, the father could change his mind during the visit and shorten or extend the young man’s stay.

Mini candelabras that hold votive candles are another nice touch and they give off a nice ambiance at the dinner table, as do the larger candelabras. But I am especially fond of the atmosphere the wall sconce candle holders give to a room. The light is soft and wavery and can be very soothing and romantic.

Find a corner in your home where you can collect some of these lovely wrought iron candle holders and keep your supply of candles well stocked because you’ll definitely want to use your candle holders.

Click here “I love wrought iron!” to buy beautiful wrought iron designs for YOUR life!

If you’re a blogger like me, you’ll love this FREE 2010 Blogging Calendar and Planner from Blogenergizer:

Don’t you just hate it when you really need to update your blog and draw a blank? Well, one of the best ways to jump start those creative juices is to simply look at the calendar. How simple is that?

Every month, week and day, there are some really strange, fun and downright funny holidays and observances celebrated everywhere. In fact, you can even make up your own ‘holiday’ to celebrate on your blog with your readers – that’s how easy it is to come up with days of posts at a time. But you don’t have to make it up yourself. It’s hard enough coming up with a post. Here’s a blogging calendar I found that feature some of these holidays. The other nice thing is, it has room to jot down your own ideas and you can use it to literally plan out the year’s content – or just a month or two ahead if you’re not the planning type. This really helps keep your blog going without rushing to write last minute posts.

Download it here and check it out for yourself. I bet you can find a couple of posts just off those dates you can write about. In fact, you can write about them right away and schedule them. Your readers will have fun and marvel at how you are so on top of the holidays and seasons.

Appreciation for wrought iron designs is returning, especially the products made by hand by true artisans like Lee Sauder from Germinal Ironworks in Lexington, Virginia and Carlos Galvan of Los-Factory in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico.

With increasing recognition of the value of quality wrought iron designs, they are again becoming important to homeowners, interior designers, architects, and collectors, to name just a few.

photo credit: Rennett Stowe
When looking for wrought iron for your home or yard, be careful not to buy cast iron instead. Wrought iron is forged and hammered to remove impurities and then hammered into the desired shape by the artist. It will show marks of the artisan’s hammer.

Some of the advantages of true wrought iron are:

• Every piece is unique
• Each piece is built to last a lifetime
• Maintenance is easy
• The artist pays close attention to details

Your wrought iron pieces are an investment which will require minimum maintenance to retain it’s beauty for many years to come.

Is It Real Wrought Iron?

Check the piece over carefully and look for signs that it is cast and/or machined, instead of forged.  Check for seams that would be evident in cast pieces and other casting marks.  Examine the welded joints for weaknesses.  Weak welds can result in fatigue and allow moisture to seep in and the piece to rust.

Wrought iron decorative pieces won’t look mass-produced like cast iron pieces, because each piece is unique.  Run you hands over the piece you plan to purchase and feel for roughness, breaks, splits, or other flaws that would compromise the strength of the wrought iron and again leave an entry for rust.

If at all possible, ask about references from the particular artisan you wish to buy from.  Look at photos of their work and ask if you can talk to a former client.  If at all possible, visit the artist’s place of work, where the wrought iron designs are actually created.

Carlos Galvan of Jalisco, Tlaquepaque, Mexico, is one such renowned artist who has made custom works around the world.  Photos of his work can be seen at Los-Factory website.  For any information you might need, contact Arjan Los, the co-founder – with Carlos Galvan – of Los-Factory.

Click here “I love wrought iron!” to buy beautiful wrought iron designs for YOUR life!

A touch of elegance. . .

White Wrought Iron Bakers Rack

Have you ever thought about decorating your home with white wrought iron? Most people, when they think about wrought iron, envision the black designs, which are beautiful, but there are many beautiful white pieces as well.  For instance, a white wrought iron étagère or baker’s rack make delightful plant stands, especially if you have the kind of plants that drape down gracefully from their pots, and you have put your plants in colorful, hand-painted decorative pottery.

A touch of Tuscan. . .

If you like the look of Italian wrought iron designs, you will be able to find many lovely planters painted in the Tuscany manner. A small ceramic diffuser for essential oils would fit nicely among the plants and you could enjoy the fragrance of your favorite essential oil all day.

A special place for sleep. . .

Wrought Iron Henna Lamp

Another nice place for white wrought iron is the bedroom. An antique wrought iron bed painted white, topped by a fluffy goose down comforter, and lots of delicate, lace-trimmed pillows would be exquisite. The ambiance of the room would be so serene and restful and would be a big benefit to your peace of mind.

Colorful lamps by your bed would be both elegant and useful. We have lamps here in Morocco that are very different. Treated goatskin is strethed over the wrought iron frame and hand-painted with Henna.

And a quiet corner just for you. . .

If you have a little space in your front room or bedroom for a white wrought iron daybed you could create your own personal retreat to repose, meditate, listen to your favorite music, or read. This would also add a special and unique touch to your home.

Your thoughts. . .

How would you use white wrought iron designs to bring a special ambiance to your home? Leave your comments below. . .

Click here “I love wrought iron!” to buy beautiful wrought iron designs for YOUR life!

Moroccan wrought iron is beautiful! I love living here!

I Love wrought iron designs. I live in Morocco and am surrounded by lovely wrought iron on just about every window, door, gate, and fence in my small village.

Our Wrought Iron Window

Most of this wrought iron is not for protection because even the apartments on the third floor have their windows decorated and the windows facing our interior courtyards are resplendent with beautiful grills.

The Moroccan people love the symmetry and delicacy of wrought iron designs. They love the way the shadows fall on the walls and stone floors when the sun slants into the windows in a certain way. Most of the year I get the sun coming into my south-east windows each evening and it’s lovely.

Moroccans also love wrought iron wall art. They use it for mirrors, wall sconces, picture frames, curtain rods, and just as for decoration. You can’t enter a Moroccan home without finding several pieces of wrought iron used as wall decor.

Lovely Wrought Iron Mirror

This lovely mirror is just one example of the imaginative and hand-wrought pieces you’ll find in a typical Moroccan home. In fact, it’s not unusual to find mirrors in virtually every room in a Moroccan home and a variety of different sizes of photograph frames, candle holders, both on the wall and free standing, scattered throughout the home.

Other popular items, that are as practical as they are beautiful are the wrought iron chandeliers and lamps.

Many lamps, like this one, are made with a wrought iron base. First the artist builds the frame and then he stretches treated goatskin over the frame. Lastly, the lamp is hand-decorated with Henna.

Wrought Iron Lamp with Henna Designs

In Morocco, you will find several excellent artisans who make hand-made wrought iron treasures following the techniques handed down from father to son.

Click here “I love wrought iron!” to buy beautiful wrought iron designs for YOUR life!

Carlos Galvan was born in Mexico in 1972 but he could have been born in Italy in 1472.

Wrought Iron Cross by Carlos Galvan

Carlos Galvan creates beautiful wrought iron designs for projects around the world.  He uses the same techniques that Nicolo Grosso Caparra used in Italy in the late 1400s for his antique wrought iron on such majestic buildings as the Strozzi Palace.  The two men could have been comtemporaries, their works are so much alike.  Unique.  Beautiful.  Built to last a life time.

Carlos works with his co-founder, Arjan Los, at the Los Factory in Tlaquepaque, Jalisco, Mexico.  Their custom Mexican wrought iron designs can be seen in Mexico, the United States, Sweden, the Philippines, Dubai, and many other places.

The world is fortunate to have men like Carlos Galvan who carry on the traditions of the past and produce exquisite wrought iron works of art like these.

To view the information for each image, click on the “i”in the upper right-hand corner.

Click here “I love wrought iron!” to buy beautiful wrought iron designs for YOUR life!

The Middle Ages

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the wrought iron designs in Italy, France, and Germany showed the limitations of all true decorative art due to the difficulty of working wrought iron by hand.  This difficulty limited what could be done in the way of design and execution.

During the design phase of a project, the designer had to keep these limitations, such as a lack of machinery to help execute the piece, in mind.

The smithy was limited also by his skills.  The tell-tale marks of the smith’s work were inevitable.   However, this added to the charm of the pieces and made each one distinct.

Reproductions

High quality reproductions followed.  In fact, some of the following photographs are of reproductions and others are of original works.  It’s virtually impossible to tell the difference in the photographs.

The next-best thing to having the original wrought iron designs is to have excellent reproductions, made the old-fashioned way, instead of pieces mass-produced on machines.

Lanterns and Torch Holders

This article features lanterns and torch holders but, in reality, the lanterns could also be called torch holders as they were designed to hold combustible material which was held in place by the central spike.

The lanterns that decorate the Strozzi Palace in Florence are the finest examples of Italian antique wrought iron work still existing, and have frequently served as models for lanterns in recent times.  Similar lanterns were attached to the angles of the Riccardi Palace, the former residence of the Medici in Florence.

Nicolo Grosso Caparra - il Caparra

These “lumière miravigliosi” were believed to be the work of Nicolo Grosso Caparra, known as il Caparra, a celebrated artist of his time, who is believed to have executed many of the beautiful rings and cressets which still decorate the old palaces of Siena. His method was to afix a little iron barrel on the center spike, which contained the tow and pitch.  The torches were then attached to the other spikes.

In some old engravings of night-time festivities by the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, the beauty of the light cast by this  type of  lantern is evident.

Antique Wrought Iron Lanterns and Torch Holders by Nicolo Grosso Caparra

To view the information for each image, click on the “i”in the upper right-hand corner.

Click here “I love wrought iron!” to buy beautiful wrought iron designs for YOUR life!

Introduction to Wrought Iron Designs

I have loved wrought iron designs for most of my adult life.  Several years ago I worked for an architect in Southern California.  One of his draftsmen had a passion for architectural wrought iron design and was always sharing his drawings and “doodles” with me, as well as his books.  He awakened in me a love for the beauty, diversity, and intricacy of the possibilities of what wrought iron could become.

New Orleans has beautiful examples of wrought iron designs. Here the lacy balconies and fences are exquisite. In the French District you will find  wrought iron work everywhere.  However, in the Garden District, most of the work is from cast iron, not wrought iron.

The difference between the two has to do with the amount of carbon left after the iron ore is processed.  Cast Iron has 2% or more carbon whereas wrought iron has 0.2% carbon or less. Because of the higher carbon content in cast iron, it is more brittle than wrought iron. Wrought iron is strong and hard, and easy to weld.

The methods used for each are also different. Today, wrought iron is produced in “blooming” mills and cast iron is basically pig iron that is melted in a blast furnace with scraps of iron.

Wrought iron bloom is porous and must be hammered to reduce the air pockets and most of the slag. After it is “hammered” the first time, it is then “hammered” again into the final shape. This is done by hand or, nowadays, also by machine.

How Wrought Iron was produced  the “old-fashioned” way

Nyamakala 11 (Photo by Ellen Martin)

Lee Sauder is a blacksmith and sculptor who decided he wanted to know how wrought iron was made after being inspired by hearing about traditional iron smelting in Africa.

In 1998 he teamed up with his friend, Henry G. “Skip” Williams III,  to rediscover the art of bloomery smelting, which was the technique used to obtain wrought iron from iron ore for many centuries.

He wanted to produce his own product for his forged sculptures.  Archeologists had been attempting to reproduce the process for over thirty years, but with dismal results.

Their first experiments begin in January of 1998.  By the Spring of 2001, after much experimenting and varying results, they begin to produce a product that was to their liking.  By 2006, they had produced over a ton of their own iron using the ancient techniques of bloomery smelting.  You can read more about their fascinating journey here: The Smelter’s Art and visit the website and gallery at Germinal Ironworks.

Click here “I love wrought iron!” to buy beautiful wrought iron designs for YOUR life!