Very popular in the bookends’ world from about 1905 to 1935, only a single manufacturer survived beyond WWII. Notable to this process was the time and skill involved - the time spent in the electroforming bath could be several days, with significant levels of electrical current needed to achieve the bronze skin. They are essentially a plaster sculpture encapsulated in bronze. Unlike modern industrial-part electroforming where the form (or mandrel) is then removed, these bookends still have their plaster core. Electroformed differs from electroplated in that the skin is much thicker, on average perhaps several-to-a-dozen times the thickness of heavyweight aluminum foil. Electrical current was passed through the electrode and the plating bath, and a bronze “skin” formed around the plaster core. Similar to electroplating, this plaster-cast form was then suspended in the fluid of a plating tank. Various companies had somewhat different methods and patents, but, generally, this initial plaster casting was coated with a material to make it more electrically conductive - and there was an electrode-wire within before the plaster was cast (the end of which is often still visible within a dimple on the bottom). The most complex manufacturing process of the various types of antique bookends, bronze-clad bookends begin as a plaster casting. We think “bronze-clad” is by far the best label for this type of bookend, but folks also refer to them as “plaster-filled bronze”, “electroformed bronze”, “weighted bronze”, “bronze coated”, “armor bronze” and “galvano bronze” (lowercase a-or-g, to differentiate from the companies with the same name). Much less brittle than iron, bronze melts at a relatively high temperature. Other elements are also sometimes used in bronze alloys - be it phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon - hence the many different “bronzes” that exist. Spelter is still used today to make cheaper cast metal products.īronze is an alloy consisting mostly of copper, usually with tin as the main additive (another copper alloy, brass, is copper alloyed with zinc). Spelter bookends from the Art Deco era were most often made by permanent mold slush casting (which means they are hollow). Because this alloy has a much lower melting temperature than bronze, it was commonly used to make less expensive products (not just bookends, but all sorts of household items). Spelter generally refers to an alloy of zinc and lead, and is often referred to as gray metal, white metal, pot metal, and others. Often sand cast, they may have a bronze “wash” or other plating, but if a magnet sticks they contain ferrous material, and are therefore generally considered to be iron (except for the occasional steel railroad-rail cutoff). Rounding out the historical record are one very famous “Bookends” produced in vinyl, if you count the album & title track released by Simon & Garfunkel in 1968.Ĭast iron are among the easiest to identify an ordinary ’fridge magnet sticks to them. Most collectible vintage or antique bookends fall into one of four categories: iron, spelter, solid bronze, and bronze-clad - other pairs were produced in alabaster, marble, onyx, gypsum, glass, pottery, and hardwood. Both items stamped with the Auböck workshop signature.Bookends have a long and varied history. The biomorphism in this design and other Auböck pieces reveals them as Modernist designs of the mid-twentieth century. Like Auböck's other bookend designs the Flat Irons' form is reminiscent of shapes found in nature and living organisms. Not only the colour and materiality of the cane contrasts with the black patinated brass but the way in which the cane has been used -the intricate way in which the wicker has been hand woven introduces a great texture to the design. Contrasting this super sleek surface is the more evidently natural blonde cane that bounds the handles. Each bookend has been meticulously hand finished which results in the objects being brilliantly tactile. The entirety of the Irons' solid brass body has been patinated making them a deep and varied black. The Carl's operate from the very same workshop in central Vienna and the bookends are cast from the same positive mould from which they have always been cast. Originally designed by Carl Auböck II in 1943 the bookends are today made by his grandson and great-grandson -Carl Auböck IV and V, respectively. A pair of newly cast Flat Iron bookends by Werkstätte Carl Auböck.
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