Andiron

When metals that could be cast began to be used for the fronts, these ordinary objects of the household received the attention of the artist, and had skill and taste lavished upon them.

By the eighteenth century classical forms with several mouldings, similar to those used for candlesticks and the like, predominate in pieces for the middle classes, and were imitated in the American colonies, often just in iron and rather more simply.

Small figures at the front also became popular; in America cast flat "Hessian" soldiers were a long-lasting favourite.

[3] In Continental Europe, men such as Jean Berain (1640-1711), whose artistry was most especially applied to the ornamentation of Boulle furniture, sometimes designed them.

In older periods people used andirons as a rest for a roasting spit; they sometimes included a cup-shaped top to hold porridge.

[7] Excavations made on the Greek island of Santorini unearthed stone sets of firedogs used before the seventeenth century BC.

In each pair of the supports, the receptacles to hold skewers or spits were found in equivalence, while the line of small openings in the base formed a mechanism to supply the coals with oxygen so that they remained alight during its use.

Medieval andirons tended to be high, often with slots at the front for placing spits for roasting; in later periods similar styles remained in use in large kitchens.

When the Italian Renaissance began to produce very elaborate decorated fronts for reception rooms, these remained higher than later, gradually tending to reduce in height until the 18th century.