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Metal : Choose a masterwork...
This lock with snares and secrets was created around 1860 by Emile Ottia, aka Emile le Tourangeau, compagnon locksmith du Devoir. The keyhole is hidden behind the coat of arms of the city of Tours (three towers) and can only be reached by activating a secret device. When loaded, any attempt to break in fires a small cannon and shackles will emprison the burglar’s hand.
These miniature park railings (scale 1/10) are the masterpiece of Léopold Hubert, aka Léopold le Tourangeau, compagnon locksmith du Devoir who worked on it for fourteen years (from 1878 to 1892). They are made of 2,325 parts of wrought iron assembled with rivets. The minute mechanisms still work perfectly. The author added a fancy note in the chiseled faces, fake clock-watch and by lodging 12 minute tools in the striking-box.
The compagnon farrier Jean Bourreau, aka Tourangeau Cœur Fidèle, is the author of this figurine of a 19th century compagnon on his journey round France and carrying the staple items expected : the gourd, the cane and the ‘four-knot trunk’ on his shoulder. It was made in 1985 in steel sheet, copper and brass.
Several St Eloi’s bunches are on show in the museum. They consist of several different horseshoes, and sometimes oxshoes, gathered around a central larger one. Ornaments made of cut-out shapes and symbols were added to this combination on display on the front of a farrier’s shop, to show that he could he could match any hoof, even when misshaped.
The smithy-temple is the masterpiece of a farrier compagnon, François Bernardet, aka Toulousain le Bien Aimé, produced in 1980. It includes in miniature all the tools of a smithy and also the furniture in the shapes of horseshoes or hooves. The names of the stages of the Tour de France are written in the frieze around the temple and over its entrance are placed crossed canes, ribbons and a gourd.
This is the work of a young plumber during his training with the compagnons. In it, he showed that he knew how to precisely shape the copper pipes and to solder them to steel pipes.
The hand holding a sphere is the 1996 reception piece of the stove-maker compagnon Provençal la Clef des Cœurs. It conveys the abilities of the maker, god or man, to act on shapeless matter and transform it into a perfect sphere.
The brass swan is the reception piece made in 1985 by the stove-maker compagnon du Devoir Ile-de-France la Constance. The hammering of the brass sheets was a delicate part of the work and the welding is hardly visible.
The Louis 13th style column is the admission piece of Normand l’Ami des Arts stove-maker compagnon des Devoirs Unis. Not the slightest trace of hammering shows on this fine work polished to a mirror-like degree.
This lock with snares and secrets was created around 1860 by Emile Ottia, aka Emile le Tourangeau, compagnon locksmith du Devoir. The keyhole is hidden behind the coat of arms of the city of Tours (three towers) and can only be reached by activating a secret device. When loaded, any attempt to break in fires a small cannon and shackles will emprison the burglar’s hand.
These miniature park railings (scale 1/10) are the masterpiece of Léopold Hubert, aka Léopold le Tourangeau, compagnon locksmith du Devoir who worked on it for fourteen years (from 1878 to 1892). They are made of 2,325 parts of wrought iron assembled with rivets. The minute mechanisms still work perfectly. The author added a fancy note in the chiseled faces, fake clock-watch and by lodging 12 minute tools in the striking-box.
The compagnon farrier Jean Bourreau, aka Tourangeau Cœur Fidèle, is the author of this figurine of a 19th century compagnon on his journey round France and carrying the staple items expected : the gourd, the cane and the ‘four-knot trunk’ on his shoulder. It was made in 1985 in steel sheet, copper and brass.
Several St Eloi’s bunches are on show in the museum. They consist of several different horseshoes, and sometimes oxshoes, gathered around a central larger one. Ornaments made of cut-out shapes and symbols were added to this combination on display on the front of a farrier’s shop, to show that he could he could match any hoof, even when misshaped.
The smithy-temple is the masterpiece of a farrier compagnon, François Bernardet, aka Toulousain le Bien Aimé, produced in 1980. It includes in miniature all the tools of a smithy and also the furniture in the shapes of horseshoes or hooves. The names of the stages of the Tour de France are written in the frieze around the temple and over its entrance are placed crossed canes, ribbons and a gourd.
This is the work of a young plumber during his training with the compagnons. In it, he showed that he knew how to precisely shape the copper pipes and to solder them to steel pipes.
The hand holding a sphere is the 1996 reception piece of the stove-maker compagnon Provençal la Clef des Cœurs. It conveys the abilities of the maker, god or man, to act on shapeless matter and transform it into a perfect sphere.
The brass swan is the reception piece made in 1985 by the stove-maker compagnon du Devoir Ile-de-France la Constance. The hammering of the brass sheets was a delicate part of the work and the welding is hardly visible.
The Louis 13th style column is the admission piece of Normand l’Ami des Arts stove-maker compagnon des Devoirs Unis. Not the slightest trace of hammering shows on this fine work polished to a mirror-like degree.