Antiques and
Vintage Collectibles Spotlight

Doorstops

Prior to the Victorian era, most doors were propped open with the nearest rock or wedge of wood. By the mid-19th century--and with thanks to Victorian sense and sensibility--doorstop makers cast iron into fanciful and whimsical forms, painted with festive colors. Popular motifs include animals, flower baskets, ships, cottages, and houses.

In the United States, the production of cast-iron doorstops reached its heyday from after the Civil War through 1940. Manufacturers included the Albany Foundry Co., in Albany, NY; the Hubley Manufacturing Co., in Lancaster, PA; and Bradley & Hubbard, in Meriden, CT.

The process. To create these treasures, metalworkers carved out a three-dimensional form from wood, or hammered the doorstop design out in metal. The form was then pressed into fine, compacted sand making an impression. Molten iron, heated to 3,000 degrees, was poured into the sand mold. When cooled, the form would pop out. Rough edges were filed off, a ground coat of paint added, and then painted according to the desired motif.

Manufacturers of cast iron doorstops include the Albany Foundry, Bradley and Hubbard, and the Hubley Manufacturing Co. Hubley was a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, toy manufacturer that also made doorstops, which are valued for their colorful painted surfaces.

What to look for. A well-cast iron doorstop will be smooth in texture. Small chipping of paint is acceptable, but there should be no repainting of an antique item.

To check if your doorstop is a Hubley turn it over and look for a three-digit number incised into the metal. A Hubley with original paint and in good condition has a higher value.

Stuart's Musings

Louis Comfort Tiffany

Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of Charles Tiffany, founder of the prestigious jewelry and silver store Tiffany & Co., began his career as a painter. He studied under American landscape painter George Inness, from whom he learned to combine the use of light, color, and nature in his work.

L.C. Tiffany's travels acquainted him with the designs of medieval and Roman glass. He experimented with lustering techniques, largely inspired by the natural iridescence of ancient Roman glass. Tiffany patented his first glass-lustering technique in 1881, adding his expertise in design and decorative arts as an interior designer.

L.C. Tiffany founded his own company in 1885 which focused on art glass using his patented glassmaking technique of combining different colors in opalescent glass to create vibrant, multidimensional hues. Favrile glass, the trademark for Tiffany handmade glass, was the result of these experiments. With the exception of Tiffany lamps, Favrile glass is the ware for which L.C. Tiffany is best known.