Page 162

CRAFTSMAN METAL WORK: DESIGNED AND MADE
ACCORDING TO THE SAME PRINCIPLES THAT RULE
THE FURNITURE
IN a room decorated according to Craftsman
      ideas,<especially if it be furnished with
      Craftsman furniture<it is of the utmost
      importance that the   metal accessories
should be of a character that fits into the pic-
ttlre. We found out very soon after we began
to make the plain oak furniture that even the
best of the usual machine-made and highly
polished metal trim was absurdly out of place,
and that in order to get the right thing it
was necessary to establish a metal-work de-
partment in the Craftsman VVorkshops where
articles of wrought metal in plain rugged de-
signs and possessing the same structtiral and
simple quality as the furniture could be made.
We began with such simple and necessary
things as drawer and door pulls, hinges and
escutcheons, but with a work so interesting
and so full of possibilities as this one thing
inevitahly  leads to another, and our metal
workers were soon making in hand-wrought
iron, copper and brass all kinds of household
fittings, such as lighting fixtures, fire sets, and
other articles that were decorative as well as
c)i¹i¹ER-FRAHED LANTERN THAT IS INTENDED TO HANG
FROM A BRAcKET ATTAcHED TO TIlE WALL.
                                   FOE USE IN AN
useful, and that showed the same       essential
qualities as the furniture.
  Since then we have not only made all man-
ner   of  metal  furnishings     ourselves, but
through the pages of THE CRAFTSMAN          we
have warmly encouraged amateur workers to
do the same thing and have given for their
use a number of models as well as full direc-
tions regarding methods of working and the
necessary equipment for doing all kinds of sim-
ple metal work at home. Under the inspiration
of these suggestions and directions, a number
of readers of THE CRAFTSMAN have set up
little home workshops and have succeeded in
making many pieces that show originality and
merit.  In fact, metal work is one of the most
interesting of the crafts to the home worker
who possesses skill and taste and, above all,
a genuine interest in making for himself the
things that are needed either for use or orna-
ment at home, and anyone who takes it up
and (liscovers its possibilities is likely to go
on with it indefinitely.  Instruction in the tech-
nicalities is easily obtained from any black-
smith who can teach the rudiments of hand-
ling iron, or from any working jeweler or
coppersmith who is ahle to give the necessary
personal supervision to the first efforts of a
worker in brass   or copper.     Given  even a
little ingenuity and handiness with tools, it
LARGE LANTERN THAT IS REST FITTED
ENTRANcE HALL OR VERANDA.
1 6~