Good morning, Mike, In 1990 and in 1991, I had the pleasure of meeting the head of the artist blacksmiths in what was then the USSR. He had an almost mystical rapport with his craft, and viewed the metaphor of beating raw iron into beautiful and useful objects as an apt metaphor for the transformation and reconstruction of Russia that was then underway with Gorbachev. I visited his home a few times; as you can imagine, it was quite a place.
Lawry > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mike Spencer > Sent: Saturday, March 23, 2002 1:41 AM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: FW Nomadic workers > > > > Between the death of Samuel Yellin and the beginning of the revival in > the early 70s, art blacksmithing languished in North America, kept > alive mostly by a few of the people who had worked with Yellin. It > was chiefly in Germany that the craft continued to flourish and to > enjoy wide appreciation. Although contemporary Kunstschmiede -- > artist blacksmiths -- may attend Hochschule, apprenticeship has > remained the normal entry to the craft. Having finished his Lehrzeit, > the journeyman -- Wandergeselle -- regarded traveling from shop to > shop as an important, even necessary component of his training. By > working in, or at least briefly visiting, many shops the young smith > became acquainted with techniques and tooling, styles and design > approaches in much wider variety that would be available at the one > shop where he apprenticed. > > A curious part of this tradition was this: The wandering smith had no > regular income and depended on the work, short or long term, that he > was offered at the shops he visited. If there was no paid work > available, he was still welcomed, fed and put up for a night or two. > In token payment for this hospitality, he was "hired" to make a nail > which was then driven into the stump that supported the anvil. > Although I haven't seen it myself, it's reported that there are old > shops in Germany, some of them very old, that have anvil stumps > solidly armor plated with many hundreds of plain and ornamental > nail-heads made by many generations of journeyman smiths. > > (I've used the male pronoun above. The president of the Artist > Blacksmiths' Association of North America was for years a woman smith > and I believe that the present president of a similar organization in > Germany is a woman, but acceptance of women in the craft is, with a > few exceptions, a relatively recent innovation. Nailmaking, probably > the most tedious drudgery in the blacksmithing domain, was often done > by women in England a couple of hundred years ago, presumably because > the stronger of them were regarded as equal to repetitive drudgery if > not to more intellectually demanding tasks such as making horseshoes > and wagon tires, let alone ornamental ironwork.) > > - Mike > > --- > Michael Spencer Nova Scotia, Canada > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://home.tallships.ca/mspencer/
