Photograph by Ed Pollard, Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II digital slr-2007.

Spear Andiron

Manufacturer Brass Founder (American, early 19th Century)

Designer Richard Whittingham Sr.

Designer Richard Whittingham Jr.

CultureAmerican

DateFederal period, early 19th century

MediumIron | Brass

DimensionsOverall: 20 1/2 x 10 x 20 in. (52.1 x 25.4 x 50.8 cm)

InscribedThe maker's stamped mark appears on each of the andirons on the back of the hexagonal pedestal. The stamped mark on one of the andirons is partially obliterated, but the other is crisp and appears as follows: R WITTINGHAM / N.YORK

Credit LineGift of Lois Martin Strode

Object number2006.11.2

On View

Chrysler Museum of Art, MMH, North Bedroom

DescriptionThe front posts are made of cast brass and are supported by two curved brass legs. The legs have spurs pointing outward from their knees and sit on ball feet. The legs are attached to the sides of a round plinth that support a hexagonal pedestal, on top of the pedestal sits a staged rounded stem that becomes columnar and then flares out to hold a sphere. On top of the sphere sits another rounded stem that tapers toward the top to support a shallow rounded cup and on top of the cup sits a hexagonal steeple that is surmounted by an ovoid finial with a top button. The legs were cast solid, but the posts themselves were cast in two vertical hollow halves and braised together.

ProvenanceLois Martin Stroud, Norfolk, VA; The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, Gift of Lois Martin Strode, 2006. Published ReferencesDonald F. Fennimore, _Metalwork in Early America: Copper and its Alloys from the Winterthur Collection_ (Winterthur: The Henry Francis DuPont Winterthur Museum, 1996), 140-144. Similar examples