Fireplace Shovel and Tongs

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • Fireplace Shovel and Tongs
Datec. 1790–1810
Probable placeBoston, Massachusetts, United States
MediumBrass and iron
Dimensions.1, Shovel: 33 1/2 × 8 1/2 × 2 3/4 in. (85.1 × 21.6 × 7 cm)
.2, Tongs: 33 1/2 × 2 3/4 × 1 3/4 in. (85.1 × 7 × 4.4 cm)
Credit LineThe Bayou Bend Collection, museum purchase funded by William J. Hill
Object numberB.2010.6.1,.2
Current Location
Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens
Bayou Bend Dining Room
On view

Explore Further

Department
Bayou Bend
Description

In 18th-century colonial America and into the early 19th century, wood was the chosen heat source for households. The English lacked abundant wood supplies and used coal to heat their homes, but the timber of American forests proved an inexhaustible resource. Aware of this, canny English manufacturers produced and imported fireplace equipment to America before and after the American Revolution. With its manufacturing might and aggressive marketing, England dominated brass production and distribution throughout the 18th century. The amount of brass shipped to the colonies increased from about 28 tons in 1700 to 227 tons in 1760. By 1795, when trade had resumed after the Revolution, the amount of English brass arriving into American ports had risen to 312 tons. 

While American hardwaremen mainly offered English brass domestic products, raw materials were also sold. Using these raw materials, American artisans competed with English manufacturers for American patrons by imitating fashionable examples from London. Throughout American urban centers, brass founders created a variety of objects for the fireplace, including andirons, fenders, elements for bellows, and fire tools. Several examples of andirons and fire tools survive, of probable Boston origin. 

One such survival is the pair of andirons (B.76.257.1,.2) displayed in Bayou Bend’s Dining Room. With neoclassical urn-shaped finials and stipple-engraved swag motifs, the andirons complement the fireplace shovel and tongs. Although these objects are unmarked, like many brass objects made on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, several indications point toward a Boston attribution. The andirons and tools are both made of a relatively uncommon red brass having a high proportion of copper, which was frequently documented by Boston founders more than elsewhere in the United States. In addition, the graduated double urns, one on top of the other, were a popular design element with Boston metalworkers.


Provenance[Northeast Auctions, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, March 28, 2010, lot 764]; purchased by MFAH, 2010.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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Shovel Gold Weight
1900–1977
Brass
77.145
Fire Bucket
John Fenno, Jr.
1815
Leather, iron, oil paint, and varnish
B.2013.1
Closed view
19th century
Ivory
94.958.A-.N
Bellows
c. 1785–1815
Mahogany and unidentified inlay; white oak, leather, and brass
B.83.1
Sewing Box
c. 1840–1870
Tin, brass, and paint
B.2002.15
Etui
c. 1850–1860
Ivory, gilt silver, blued steel, velvet, brass
B.2002.18
Thread Caddy
c. 1820–1870
Mahogany, brass
B.2002.11
Bellows
c.1825–1850
Wood, leather, paint, and brass
B.91.26
Surveyor's Plain Compass
Benjamin Rittenhouse
c. 1775
Brass, steel, silvering, wax composition, and glass
B.2017.7
Cased Set of Drawing Instruments
McAllister & Co.
c. 1836–1853
Brass, steel, wood, ivory, and sharkskin
B.2018.60.A-.I
Scales
1900–1977
Brass and fiber
77.156
Gold weight
1900–1977
Brass
77.102