Our collections
Metal : Choose a masterwork...
Lock with booby-traps and secrets, created around 1860 by Emile Ottia, nicknamed “Emile le Tourangeau”, Companion Locksmith du Devoir. The lock contains an aperture concealed by a door bearing the arms of the City of Tours (three towers), which can only be opened by activating a secret mechanism. When it is armed, any attempt to force it open sets off a miniature cannon and a handcuff trap that snaps over the burglar’s wrist.
The miniature park gate (scale 1:10) is a masterpiece created over fourteen years (1878-1892) by Léopold Habert, nicknamed “Léopold le Tourangeau”, Companion Locksmith du Devoir. It is composed of 2325 pieces of wrought iron riveted together, and includes numerous miniscule components still in working order, chiselled steel faces and a false clock, while the lock’s striking gate contains 12 miniature tools.
Companion blacksmith Jean Bourreau, nicknamed “Tourangeau Cœur Fidèle”, created this statuette representing a 19th-century Companion setting off on his Tour of France. He carries his flask at his side and his stick on his shoulder, to which his bundle or “trunk with four knots” is tied. The work was completed in 1985 and is made of sheet steel, copper and brass.
Several “bouquets de Saint-Eloi” are on exhibition at the Musée du Compagnonnage. Such was the name given to compositions made up of horseshoes and sometimes cattle shoes assembled around a larger central shoe. Finished works were decorated with figures and emblems and were designed to prove that a Companion Blacksmith knew how to shoe horses, donkeys and cattle while taking account of the specificities of the hooves in question, and any malformations or diseases, etc.
The smithy-temple is a masterpiece created by Companion Blacksmith François Bernadet, nicknamed “Toulousain le Bien aimé”. It contains miniature replicas of all the tools used in a forge, along with furniture in the shape of horseshoes and hooves. The stages of the Tour of France are depicted in a frieze running around the temple, whose entrance is topped by a pair of crossed sticks, colours and a flask.
The light-bulb filament is a training piece created by a young plumber studying with the Companions of the trade. The curved, spiralled tubes are mounted on steel pipes.
The hand holding a sphere is a reception work created by the Companion Boilermaker “Provençal la Clef des Cœurs” in 1996. The work expresses the possibilities open to the creator, whether man or god, who fashions formless matter into a perfect sphere.
The brass swan is a reception masterpiece created in 1985 by Companion Boilermaker du Devoir “Ile-de-France la Constance”. The brass sheets have been planished with great delicacy and the welding is altogether unobtrusive.
The Louis XIII- style torsade is an admission masterpiece created in 1990 by the aspirant “Normand l’Ami des Arts”, boilermaker des Devoirs Unis. The piece is of great finesse, with no trace of hammer work to be seen, and has been polished to mirror-like brilliance.
Lock with booby-traps and secrets, created around 1860 by Emile Ottia, nicknamed “Emile le Tourangeau”, Companion Locksmith du Devoir. The lock contains an aperture concealed by a door bearing the arms of the City of Tours (three towers), which can only be opened by activating a secret mechanism. When it is armed, any attempt to force it open sets off a miniature cannon and a handcuff trap that snaps over the burglar’s wrist.
The miniature park gate (scale 1:10) is a masterpiece created over fourteen years (1878-1892) by Léopold Habert, nicknamed “Léopold le Tourangeau”, Companion Locksmith du Devoir. It is composed of 2325 pieces of wrought iron riveted together, and includes numerous miniscule components still in working order, chiselled steel faces and a false clock, while the lock’s striking gate contains 12 miniature tools.
Companion blacksmith Jean Bourreau, nicknamed “Tourangeau Cœur Fidèle”, created this statuette representing a 19th-century Companion setting off on his Tour of France. He carries his flask at his side and his stick on his shoulder, to which his bundle or “trunk with four knots” is tied. The work was completed in 1985 and is made of sheet steel, copper and brass.
Several “bouquets de Saint-Eloi” are on exhibition at the Musée du Compagnonnage. Such was the name given to compositions made up of horseshoes and sometimes cattle shoes assembled around a larger central shoe. Finished works were decorated with figures and emblems and were designed to prove that a Companion Blacksmith knew how to shoe horses, donkeys and cattle while taking account of the specificities of the hooves in question, and any malformations or diseases, etc.
The smithy-temple is a masterpiece created by Companion Blacksmith François Bernadet, nicknamed “Toulousain le Bien aimé”. It contains miniature replicas of all the tools used in a forge, along with furniture in the shape of horseshoes and hooves. The stages of the Tour of France are depicted in a frieze running around the temple, whose entrance is topped by a pair of crossed sticks, colours and a flask.
The light-bulb filament is a training piece created by a young plumber studying with the Companions of the trade. The curved, spiralled tubes are mounted on steel pipes.
The hand holding a sphere is a reception work created by the Companion Boilermaker “Provençal la Clef des Cœurs” in 1996. The work expresses the possibilities open to the creator, whether man or god, who fashions formless matter into a perfect sphere.
The brass swan is a reception masterpiece created in 1985 by Companion Boilermaker du Devoir “Ile-de-France la Constance”. The brass sheets have been planished with great delicacy and the welding is altogether unobtrusive.
The Louis XIII- style torsade is an admission masterpiece created in 1990 by the aspirant “Normand l’Ami des Arts”, boilermaker des Devoirs Unis. The piece is of great finesse, with no trace of hammer work to be seen, and has been polished to mirror-like brilliance.