DOOR KNOCKERS
There is no more decorative feature of the entrance door than the
old-time door knocker, especially if in conjunction with it are used a
latch and hinge. It possesses a dignity and charm that is most
attractive, and when shown in brass, brightly burnished, it forms a most
effective foil for the dark or polished surface of the wood.
Door knockers have been in use, save for short periods during the
seventeenth and nineteenth centuries, since their invention, early in
the world's history, although they were most freely used during the
Romanesque, the Gothic, and the Renaissance periods. For easy
identification they may be divided into three classes, the first
characterized by a ring, the second by a hammer, and the third by human
figures and animals' heads. The first two types show a much larger
surface of plate than the third, and the designs employed are often most
elaborate.
Door knockers in use during the Medieval period were perhaps the most
carefully designed, while those of the Renaissance period showed the
most fanciful treatment. It must be remembered, when considering the
ornamental qualities of both these types of knockers, and comparing them
with latter-day productions, that they were made at a time when
designers were practically unknown, artists being employed to draw
patterns which were worked out by assistants under the supervision of
master smiths, which method resulted in a greater diversity of
treatment.
Iron was at first used in the construction of knockers, partly on
account of its inexpensiveness, and the results secured from this
seemingly ugly material were both artistic and beautiful. Later, brass
came into favor for the purpose, and it has since remained the principal
knocker material, as no better substitute has been found. Brightly
polished, a brass knocker undeniably adds to the decorative
attractiveness of any door.
During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, knockers were used on all
classes of houses. These for the most part were very elaborate in
design, showing a wonderful delicacy of workmanship, and they were in
many instances larger than those found on modern colonial homes.
Except for the period during the seventeenth century, as above
mentioned, door knockers remained in favor until the middle of the
nineteenth century, when a wave of modernity, sweeping the length and
breadth of the land, brought in its wake an overthrow of colonial ideas
and furnishings. Modern doors, plain of surface, replaced the finely
paneled old-time ones, and with their coming disappeared the knocker and
the latch. Probably the principal cause of this was the demolition of
many of the old landmarks, and the substitution of dwellings of an
entirely different architectural type. This innovation for a second time
consigned the knocker to oblivion, and many there were who, not
realizing its artistic value, cast it into the scrap heap. Others, with
a veneration for heirlooms, packed the knockers away in old hair trunks
under the eaves of the spacious attic, together with other antiques of
varying character.
No doubt the greatest number were saved by the wise and far-sighted
collector, who, realizing the artistic beauty of the knocker, felt that
it would in time come to its own again. Quietly he purchased them and
stored them away, awaiting the day of their revival, and his foresight
was amply repaid when the modified colonial house came into vogue,
demanding that the knocker should again be the doorway's chief feature.
Many of those now shown are genuine antiques, while others are
reproductions, but so carefully copied that only to one who has made a
study of antiques is the difference discernible.
[Illustration: PLATE VIII.--16th Century Knocker, Lion type, Striker of
first type; Georgian Urn type, in use on modern house; Mexican Knocker
of the Hammer type; Hammer type Knocker, 18th Century, Charles P. Waters
House.]
Old door knockers vary as to size according to the date of their
construction. Many are of odd design, having been made to fit doors of
unusual shapes, and the ornamentation is as varied as the shapes. The
most elaborate knockers depict such ideas as Medusa's head, Garlands of
Roses, and, in many cases, animals' heads, while the simple ones show
oval or plain shapes, with border decorated with bead or fretwork.
[Illustration: PLATE IX.--Eagle Knocker; Eagle Knocker, Rogers House,
Danvers, Mass.; Medusa head, elaborate early type; Garland type of
Knocker.]
The shape of the knocker is of great assistance in classification, as is
the metal used. The most common type has the striker round or
stirrup-shaped. This is either plain or ornamented with twisted forms,
with wreathing or masks, and the plate is formed of a rosette or lion's
head.
In the second type, the striker is hammer-shaped, the handle often
showing a split and straplike formation, while the plate and knob are
plain. This is an early type, as is shown from the fact that specimens
still exist that are not unlike Byzantine and Saracenic forms. It is
to this type that the exquisite iron-chiseled knockers of Henry II and
Louis XIV belong.
The lyre or elongated loop drawn down to form the striker constitute the
third style. Masks, snakes, dragons, and human figures belong to this
class, and, on account of the elaborate workmanship employed, these are
often found in brass and bronze. This type shows ornamentation lavished
on the striker, while the plate is very plain.
The greatest difference noted in all these classes is that in the third
type the escutcheon or plate by which the knocker is fastened to the
door is of little importance, while in the first two types it is the
leading motive.
During the Gothic period, the design was diamond-shape, richly decorated
with pierced work, and while this same motif was retained in the making
of the Renaissance knocker, it was frequently varied by the
double-headed or some similar style.
What is correct concerning the design of the Medieval knocker holds good
in that of to-day. No door knocker ever designed was ugly, even at the
time of the earliest manufacture, when so little was known concerning
architectural construction. There is a fine individuality in the style
of all knockers, and singularly enough one fails to find duplicates of
even the most admirable specimens. Another fact that seems strange is
that reproductions often sell for as much as genuine antiques. It would
seem that the price of the old knocker would be high, on account of its
historical value, and yet this type of knockers sells at a lower price
than present-day specimens. Old brass examples can be purchased as low
as two dollars and fifty cents, while large and elaborate ones bring
only ten dollars. This is not on account of their true value not being
known, but because there is, as yet, comparatively little demand for
them; and their sale at the best is limited, for where a person could
use twenty candlesticks, two knockers would suffice for door
ornamentation.
There is an important phase of the copied specimens that must be taken
into consideration, and that is that they have no historic value. This
fact has made reproductions of no appeal to either the collector or the
antiquarian, unless there is some special interest in the model from
which they have been copied.
Whether a knocker is a reproduction or a genuine antique can often be
told by examining the plate and noting if it is forged to the ring or
flat plate. If so, it is a fine piece of workmanship and a genuine
antique; otherwise, it is spurious.
The best place to purchase genuine old knockers is in the curio shops,
where only such things are for sale. Even in this event, it is well to
know the earmarks, for if one is anxious for a real antique, he should
be posted on the characteristics, as a spurious specimen is apt to find
its way even here.
The door knockers in general use to-day are the Georgian urn or vase,
the thumb latch, and the eagle. Such designs as Medusa's head, and the
head of Daphne with its wreath of laurel leaves are also sometimes
found.
The lion with ring has always been more popular in England than in our
country, and, indeed, during the Revolutionary War and for fifty years
after, it was not even tolerated here, being superseded by the eagle,
which came into vogue about 1775.
The garland knocker, which belongs to the early type, is still sometimes
found to-day. One such specimen is shown on a modern colonial home at
Wayland, Massachusetts. This originally graced the doorway of one of
Salem's merchant prince's homes, but it was purchased by a dealer in
antiques at the time of the decline in favor of the knocker, later
finding its original resting place, from which it has only recently been
removed.
Another rare and unusual knocker is shown on a house on Lynde Street,
Salem, Massachusetts. This is of Mexican type, and has been on the house
since its erection. It was painted over some years ago by an owner who
cared little for its worth, and it was not until a comparatively short
time ago that it was discovered to be a fine example of a rare type.
The horseshoe knocker, a specimen of the hammer class, is a prized relic
of many old homes. Like all true colonial specimens, it is made of
wrought iron, painfully hammered by hand upon the forge in the absence
of machinery for working iron, as even nails had to be hammered out in
those early times. This is one of the quaintest and most original
knockers, and is after the pattern of the earliest designed. Subsequent
specimens were more elaborate, colonial craftsmen bestowing upon them
their greatest skill. Among the most ornate were the purely Greek or
Georgian vases or urns, eagles in all possible and impossible positions,
heads of Medusa, Ariadne, and other mythological ladies, and Italian
Renaissance subjects, such as nymphs, mermaids, and dolphins, with
ribbons, garlands, and streamers.
Not a few of these knockers have wonderfully interesting histories.
Scenes have been enacted about them, which, could they be but known,
would make thrilling tales. Take, for instance, the knocker on the
Craigie House at Cambridge, Massachusetts. How many men of letters from
all over the world have lifted the knocker to gain admittance to our
late loved poet's home, and think what stories such visits could
furnish!
On the Whittier homestead at Amesbury, Massachusetts, is still to be
seen the knocker which was on the door during the poet's life. This is
of eagle design, probably chosen on account of its patriotic
significance. Another interesting knocker formerly graced the house
wherein the "Duchess" lived, on Turner Street, in Salem, many times
lifted by Hawthorne, who was a frequent visitor to this dwelling, and
who forever immortalized it in his famous romance, _The House of Seven
Gables_. This is now replaced by another of different design.
Considered to be one of the oldest knockers in this section is that on
the door of the May house at Newton, Massachusetts. Be that as it may,
it is certainly unique. The plate shows a phoenix rising from the
plain brass surface, while the knocker has for ornamentation a Medieval
head. This knocker has attracted the attention of antiquarians
throughout the country, who have given it much study in attempts to find
out the period in which it was made.
Thumb latches are not so common as the hammer and ring class. Two of
these specially unique show wonderful cutting. One is found on the front
door of the Waters house on Washington Square, Salem, being brought from
the John Crowninshield dwelling, while the other is seen on the side
porch of this same residence, having been placed there at the time of
the building's erection in 1795.
England is the seat of most of the old-time knockers, although they are
still found in almost every part of the globe. Threading the narrow
by-streets of London, one finds many historic specimens replaced by
simple modern affairs. Some have become the prey of avaricious tourists,
while others, because of their owners' little regard for their value,
have been relegated to ash heaps and thrown away.
This is true of the knocker made famous by Dickens in the _Christmas
Carol_. On the polished surface of this, Scrooge was said to have
thought he saw reflected the face of Marley "like a bad lobster in a
dark cellar." Later he spoke of it as follows: "I shall love it as long
as I live. I scarcely ever looked at it before. What an honest
expression it has in its face. It is a wonderful knocker." Clasped hands
holding a ring of laurel is the form of the knocker still seen on the
door of the famous Dr. Johnson house, and, as one gazes at it, he can in
fancy see David Garrick and Sir Joshua Reynolds ascending the steps, and
if he pauses a moment longer he can no doubt even hear the metallic ring
of the knocker, as it responds to the vigorous raps that they give.
The most beautiful knocker left in London is the one shown on the outer
gate of the Duke of Devonshire's house at Piccadilly. The design here,
as unique as it is beautiful, shows an angelic head with flowing hair.
Chapels and cathedrals in England have many examples of this type of
door decoration, one being a knocker handle with pierced tracery seen on
Stogumber Church in Somerset.
The history of door knockers is practically unwritten, and little is
known concerning their make. The revival of antiques is responsible for
their present popularity, and gives them an importance in house
ornamentation little dreamed of a few years ago. To be sure, the coming
of electric bells has precluded their necessity, but, on account of
their ornamental value, it is doubtful if they ever become obsolete. The
variety of design, the many artistic shapes to which they can be
adapted, and, more than all, their decorative qualities, make them
particularly valuable.