From Sherwood Forest to Texas, an andiron story

"A pair of 19th century lacquered bronze and wrought iron andirons designed by architect Edward William Godwin and manufactured by Hart, Son, Peard & Co. have been acquired by the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. This is the first time metalwork designed by Godwin has been bought by a museum. The dealer, Paul Shutler of Broadway, Worcestershire, UK, bought them from an antiques center in Connecticut last June. Before being placed on sale there they were in a private collection in the US."

"Edward William Godwin was an English architect and furniture designer who was one of the leaders of the Aesthetic movement in England and a pioneer in melding Japanese art with traditional and contemporary English style. Born in Bristol in 1833, Godwin was apprenticed to an architect and engineer right out of secondary school. He began working on commissions before he was 20 years old."

"When he designed the 7th Earl Cowper's Beauvale House in Newthorpe just outside of Nottingham, in 1872, he designed much of its furnishings as well, even though he had leaned into the Robin Hood associations of the location and designed Beauvale House in Old English Revival style. Hart, Son, Peard & Co made all of the ironwork for Beauvale House to Godwin's specifications. That includes the fireplace furnishings."

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston acquired a pair of 19th-century lacquered bronze and wrought iron andirons designed by Edward William Godwin and manufactured by Hart, Son, Peard & Co. Dealer Paul Shutler purchased the andirons from an antiques center in Connecticut; they had previously been in a private U.S. collection. Edward William Godwin, born in Bristol in 1833, became a leading figure of the Aesthetic movement and pioneered combining Japanese art with English design. Godwin apprenticed to an architect and engineer, established his practice in 1854, and rose to prominence with commissions such as the Northampton Guildhall. He collaborated with James McNeill Whistler and designed furnishings for Beauvale House, with Hart, Son, Peard & Co executing the ironwork to his specifications.

Read at www.thehistoryblog.com