Gutter Spout thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Medieval & Renaissance, Room 64b, The Simon Sainsbury Gallery

Gutter Spout

ca. 1600 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Elaborate and whimsical gutterspouts are characteristic of southern German blacksmith's work of the seventeenth century. Decorative ironwork was used to adorn the streets of cities, towns, and even villages, and marked the presence of inns, hostelries and shops of various crafts. Some of the ironwork would stretch well across the roadway and the decorative effect was heightened by the application of colour and gilding. Such decorative embellishments could also take the form of grotesque sheet-iron gargoyles or gutter spouts, projecting far beyond the eaves of a building to ensure that rainwater fell clear. A tradition of ecclesiastical gutter spouts and corbels in the form of exotic beasts and grotesque human faces was well established in Europe in the medieval period and this no doubt informed such secular forms of the object as the present example. Several examples can still be seen in situ, notably on the town hall of Tallin in Estonia.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Iron, embossed and painted
Brief description
Iron gutter spout, embossed and painted. A devil's head sits on top of the spout, with small wings sprouting at the sides.
Physical description
Iron gutter spout, embossed and painted. A devil's head sits on top of the spout, with small wings sprouting at the sides.
Dimensions
  • Height: 120cm
  • Width: 64.5cm
  • Depth: 40.2cm
Measured for the Medieval and Renaissance Galleries
Gallery label
GUTTER SPOUT Wrought iron Germany; 17th century In the form of a devil's head. Museum No. 1210-187(07/1994)
Historical context
Elaborate and whimsical gutterspouts are characteristic of southern German blacksmith's work of the seventeenth century and the V&A possesses two examples; the present winged devil's head and a dragon (1208-1872). Decorative ironwork was used to adorn the streets of cities, towns, and even villages, and marked the presence of inns, hostelries and shops of various crafts. Some of the ironwork would stretched well across the roadway and the decorative effect was heightened by the application of colour and gilding. Such decorative embelishments could also take the form of grotesque sheet-iron gargoyles or gutter spouts, projecting far beyond the eaves of a building to ensure that rainwater fell clear. A tradition of ecclesiastical gutter spouts and corbels in the form of exotic beasts and grotesque human faces was well established in Europe in the medieval period and this no doubt informed such secular forms of the object as the present example. Several examples can still be seen in situ, notably on the town hall of Tallin in Estonia.
Subject depicted
Summary
Elaborate and whimsical gutterspouts are characteristic of southern German blacksmith's work of the seventeenth century. Decorative ironwork was used to adorn the streets of cities, towns, and even villages, and marked the presence of inns, hostelries and shops of various crafts. Some of the ironwork would stretch well across the roadway and the decorative effect was heightened by the application of colour and gilding. Such decorative embellishments could also take the form of grotesque sheet-iron gargoyles or gutter spouts, projecting far beyond the eaves of a building to ensure that rainwater fell clear. A tradition of ecclesiastical gutter spouts and corbels in the form of exotic beasts and grotesque human faces was well established in Europe in the medieval period and this no doubt informed such secular forms of the object as the present example. Several examples can still be seen in situ, notably on the town hall of Tallin in Estonia.
Bibliographic references
  • Marian Campbell Decorative Ironwork V&A Publications, 1997, p.21
  • Campbell, Marian. An Introduction to Ironwork. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1985. 48 p., ill. ISBN 0112904157 p.20
  • Gardner, John Starkie. Ironwork. Part 2: Continental ironwork of the renaissance and later periods. London, 1896. p.32
Collection
Accession number
1210-1872

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Record createdJune 13, 2006
Record URL
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