Window shutter mounts, wrought iron and oak, Germany (probably Nuremberg), or possibly Flanders, about 1550

Elaborate pierced, wrought (hammered) iron hinges, latches and handles riveted to a (later?) panel ensemble of four square oak shutters set in a square oak frame. Each shutter is hinged to the frame on its outside vertical edge and additionally hinged down a central vertical. At the opposite side to each shutter is a lifting latch and handle set into an elaborate pierced escutcheon plate which secures it to the frame. Additional sprung catches, handles and wrought iron plates strengthen and decorate the central vertical of the frame.

The Museum registered description made in 1856 states this set of shutter mounts was bought for £10 and brought to the Museum from a house in Nuremberg.

15th and 16th century German ironsmiths were renowned for their complex and sophisticated wrought iron hingework, which was both functional (for security) and decorative. During the Renaissance period bronze gradually replaced iron in southern Europe as the favoured material for strengthening doors and windows and hingework generally became concealed. In the north, however, visible iron door or window mounts such as this highly ornate set of window shutters retained popularity.

Most window shutters of this period were designed to open in two or four leaves so that light could be regulated in the absence of blinds. Starkie Gardner states that the hingework would have been on the inside surface of the shutter, i.e. visible from inside the house, and suggests that the bright metal must have reflected back any artificial light in use, such as candles.

Nuremberg was a centre for ironworking throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods, with sources of iron available in the nearby Upper Palatinate (and later from Styria in Austria) and vast supplies of charcoal on hand from its surrounding forests.

Thought to be from a house in Nuremberg, but ascribed to Flanders by Starkie Gardner (see References).

German blacksmiths in the 15th and 16th centuries were renowned for their complex and sophisticated wrought iron hingework, which was both functional (for security) and decorative. During the Renaissance period bronze gradually replaced iron in southern Europe as the favoured material for strengthening doors and windows and hingework generally became concealed. In the north, however, visible iron door or window mounts such as this highly ornate set of window shutters retained popularity.
Most window shutters of this period were designed to open in two or four leaves so that light could be regulated in the absence of blinds.

Nuremberg was a centre for ironwork throughout the medieval and Renaissance periods, with sources of iron available in the nearby Upper Palatinate (and later from Styria in Austria) and vast supplies of charcoal on hand from its surrounding forests.

2452-1856