Dictionary Definition
andiron n : metal supports for logs in a
fireplace; "the andirons were too hot to touch" [syn: firedog, dog, dog-iron]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
From the Old English anderne (aunderne, aundyre), from the Old French andier, from the French landier, From the Late Latin andena, (andela, anderia).Noun
Extensive Definition
An andiron (older form anderne; med. Lat. andena,
anderia), sometimes called a dog, dog iron, or firedog, is a
horizontal iron bar upon
which logs are laid for burning in an open fireplace. They are usually
used in pairs. In older eras (e.g. sixteenth to eighteenth century
AD) andirons were also used as a rest for a roasting spit or
sometimes had a cup-shaped top to hold porridge. The earliest andirons
were forged from wrought
iron.
Andirons hold up the firewood so that a draft of
air can pass around it, allowing proper burning (thus minimizing
smoke). They typically stand upon short legs and are usually
connected with an upright guard. This guard, which may be of iron,
steel, copper, bronze, or even silver, is often elaborately
ornamented with patterns or heraldic ornaments, such as the
fleur-de-lis,
with sphinxes, grotesque
animals, mythological statuettes, or
caryatides supporting
heroic figures or emblems. Such a decoration in the form of a
canine plays on
the dual meanings of the word dog (canine and inanimate-holder-or-blocker).
Previous to the Italian
Renaissance, andirons were almost invariably made entirely of
iron and comparatively plain, but when the ordinary objects of the
household became the care of the artist, the metalworker lavished skill and
taste upon them. Even men such as Jean Berain,
whose fancy was most especially applied to the ornamentation of
Boulle
furniture, sometimes designed them. Indeed the andiron reached its
most artistic development under Louis
XIV of France, and the first extant examples—often of
cast
iron—are to be found in French museums and royal palaces. Firedogs, with little or
no ornament, were also used in kitchens, with ratcheted uprights
for the spits.
Very often these uprights branched out into arms or hobs for
stewing or keeping food hot.