Project Dynamics entrusted us with these treasures so that we could convert them into gas lanterns. Also, to hand forge new backplates with matching dragon heads and other fine details.
The new details looked as if they were there all along, we also fixed the time damaged wrought iron where it needed be. You should have seen them; I will post a few pictures of the finished work as soon as possible.
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| I took a picture of Richard Potter inspecting the Samuel Yellin light fixtures; he looks so small next to them. |
In case you didn't know who Samuel Yellin was, here is a little wiki read:
"American master blacksmith, was born in Galicia Poland where at the age of eleven he was apprenticed to an iron master. By the age of sixteen had had completed his apprenticeship. During that period he gained the nickname of "Devil", both for his work habits and his sense of humor. Shortly after this he left Poland, traveling through Europe to England, where, in 1906, he departed for America. By 1907 he was taking classes at the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art and within a year was teaching classes there, a position that he maintained until 1919.
In 1909 he opened his own shop and in 1915 the firm of Mellor, Meigs and Howe, for whom he designed and created many commissions, designed Yellin a new studio at 5520 Arch Street in Philadelphia where he was to remain until his death in 1940. The building continued to act as a functioning business under Yellin’s son Harvey’s direction. After his demise it served as the Samuel Yellin Museum.
During the building boom of the 1920s Yellin’s studio employed as many as 250 workers, many of them European artisans. Although Yellin appreciated traditional craftsmanship and design, he always championed creativity and the development of new designs. He was no slave to the past. Samuel Yellin’s handiwork can be found on some of the finest buildings in America."
UPDATE:
We found Samuel Yellin's signature on the light fixtures! So exciting!
And check out the brand new dragon backplate! And now they're converted to a gas hanging lantern. That wasn't so hard.
***For more information on my designs and the ornamental ironwork and lighting our metalworkers fabricate right here in Dallas, Texas go to www.potterartmetal.com