In the fourteenth century the Germans developed the French vine-work into lozenge-shaped leaves, and for a change interspersed them with fleurs-de-lis, and occasionally some tracery patterns, all of which were borrowed from the French. The stamped work of the English and French blacksmith was not developed in Germany.

In the fifteenth century German iron work was greatly influenced by the fine work which was being produced at this period in the Low Countries. Brussels had been noted for its extensive works in iron and steel from the fourteenth century. The brawny Flemish smiths were celebrated throughout Europe for their great achievements in moulded and hammered iron, such as in the spires of the cathedrals of Antwerp, Ghent, and Bruges, well-covers, railings, fonts, cranes, and grilles. The historical well-cover in front of the Cathedral of Antwerp has usually been ascribed to Quentin Matsys the painter, but as he was only twelve years old when this work was completed, it could hardly have been made by his hands. The explanation is that he has been confounded with another Quentin, a blacksmith and the son of Josse Matsys, the architect, smith, and clockmaker of Antwerp. The well-cover is more likely to have been the work of Josse Matsys. The design is Gothic in feeling and is very picturesque with its interlacing stems and vine-leaves, flowers, and figures. A rich font crane in iron work in the Cathedral of Louvain is said to be the authentic work of Josse, and a twelve-branched corona in the same church is ascribed to his son, Quentin Matsys. To the hand of the latter is also ascribed the rich Flemish gates of Bishop West's Chapel in Ely Cathedral.

Brabant

Brabant was celebrated for its iron work, particularly in pierced and filed work in such things as locks, hinges, candelabra, tabernacles, and guichets (little windows or wicket gates), most of these objects taking pronounced Gothic architectural forms, for the most part being composed of flamboyant tracery and little buttresses (Fig. 203). Much of the Braba*¡on iron work found its way into England and Germany. This work is characterised by its flamboyant tracery, which is found on locks of doors and Flemish coffers, and in the design of the guichets, a fine specimen of the latter now being in the Kensington Museum. The locks of the doors in St. George's Chapel, Windsor and in some other places are of Braba*¡on workmanship. This Flemish style of lock work was imitated very much in England, but the workmanship was less refined although of a stronger character than the Flemish.

The Germans, especially of Augsburg, Nuremberg, and in the Rhine Provinces, more particularly at Cologne, developed the chiselled iron work to an astonishing degree of elaboration.

While the shapes of the lock-plates were of a decided Saracenic character, the design of the pattern ornamentation was either of an elaborate architectural composition, as in the large lock in the Klagenfurt Museum (Fig. 204), or of designs mainly developed from the thistle-plant.

The Thistle

The Thistle was distinctly characteristic of German iron work, and also the trellis-work pattern as seen on the doors of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (Fig. 205). Armorial bearings fill the panels between the trellis-bands, with richly forged rivets or nail-heads on the lozenge intersections. Sometimes the decoration was gilt or silvered, and the ground underneath painted red or black. In the six-teenth and seventeenth centuries the iron work in Europe and England partook of the character of the Renaissance, and towards the end of the former century had all the foliated character of that style.

The illustration (Fig. 206) shows a typical example of French work of the end of the sixteenth century.

In Flanders, Holland, and in England, especially during the eighteenth century, decorative iron work was again in great demand, and some beautiful work in gates, grilles, and railings were executed. Among the finest works of this period are the celebrated gates or screens designed in the style of the Renaissance and made by Huntingdon Shaw for King William III. for his palace at Hampton Court. These gates, which are fine examples of hammered work, are now in the Kensington Museum. The iron gates and railings made in the reign of Queen Anne and later were often of beautiful design, in which the capabilities of the material were excellently expressed. Some fine examples still exist in the gates and railings of the old houses in Cheyhe Walk, Chelsea, and some good ironwork of this type may be seen in the screens in St. Paul's Cathedral. This beautiful style died out during this century, when a more extended use of cast iron crept in, and if we except the work of the late Alfred Stevens and of a few other designers and architects, there has been nothing of an artistic value that one can point out in England in the domain of cast-iron productions. In fact, it is a curious but common expression to say of a bad design for almost anything that it "looks like cast iron." Designers for cast-iron work might take some good hints from the old Roman or Pompeian bronzes.

Fig. 200. Press Door in the Church of St. Jacques, at Li*šge. (G).

Fig. 201. One of the Hinges to the Porte Ste. Anne of Notre-Dame, Paris. (G).

Fig. 203. Tabernacle Grille from Ottoberg, Tyrol; Fifteenth Century. (S. K. M.) (G).

Fig. 204. Lock, 18 inches high, in the Klagenfurt Museum; German; Fifteenth Century. (G).

Fig. 205. Iron-bound Door in the Monastery of Krems; Late Fifteenth Century. (G).