Fonderie

1797 · 28174 — Birmingham England 1797. Oblong quarto. 7 1/2 x 11 inches. 143 engraved plates 13 folding on laid paper priced throughout in manuscript. Period calf-backed marbled paper covered boards<br/> <br/>Provenance: W. G. & Co. inscription on front endpaper<br/> <br/>A rarely encountered pattern book or trade catalogue of 18th century English furniture hardware including drawer pulls keyholes hinges locks castors bolts watch stands and more.<br/> <br/>By 1770 over thirty different brass foundries operated in Birmingham England making it the epicenter of furniture hardware design in the last quarter of the 18th century. At roughly the same period trade catalogues like the present began to be issued by both furniture and hardware makers alike. Although most of the brass foundry trade catalogues of this early period have no indication of the foundry the present pattern book is inscribed W. G. & Co. on the front pastedown. In all nearly 1000 designs are shown on the 143 plates from rather simple hinges and hooks to incredibly ornate pulls knockers watchstands etc. Although no engravers's names are identified it has been suggested that the foundries themselves produced such plates utilizing the talents of their own craftsmen who by their very occupation would have been highly skilled at etching on metal. Such pattern books "illustrate the beginning of what was then a new movement in the conditions of the crafts namely the growth of the organised factory as a means of production and distribution as compared with the earlier limitation of these functions to the efforts of individuals" Young.<br/> <br/>Cf. Hummel Charles F. "Samuel Rowland Fishers Catalogue of English Hardware." Winterthur Portfolio Vol 1 1964: 188-197; cf. Symonds R. W. "An Eighteenth-Century English Brassfounders Catalogue." Magazine Antiques Feb. 1931: 102-105; Young W. A. comp. Old English pattern books of the metal trades: a descriptive catalogue of the collection in the V&A Museum. London: HMSO 1913. unknown books