A Classical Door Knocker

New London, Connecticut
Circa 1845
Wilson Foundry

The quintessential door knocker for a collector of American Classical decorative arts is this beautiful model made by the Wilson Foundry. It is in the form of a Classical female mask surmounted with clusters of grapes and leaves. The knocker is shaped as a swag of leaves and the brass nameplate is separately attached. An identical pattern is found in a Birmingham trade catalogue, item No. 489, page watermarked 1803, and again in Designs for, or descriptive diagrams of door-knockers, wafer-irons, latches and candle-snuffers, plate No. 25, item #337, C.1820 in the reference library at Winterthur. An identical door knocker was included in the 1963 exhibition catalogue Classical America 1815-1845 as plate 204. That knocker is cast in the back in the same manner as this one with “WILSON’S PATENT” for Wilson Foundry, New London, Connecticut, c.1845.

Cast iron with brass nameplate
Height: 8 ½” Width: 4 ¼”
S1026
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