A blacksmith hammers a glowing bar on the anvil as sparks fly, the lit forge and a rack of hammers behind him.

Handmade objects and craftsmanship

Blacksmithing and Metalwork

The blacksmith is one of the oldest crafts that Western culture remembers, and the first to have needed gods of its own. Vulcan, Hephaestus: the god is lame because the smith works seated, he is black with soot because he lives in the fire, he is the maker of weapons and of jewels because metal obeys him. The contemporary Tuscan blacksmith has lost the mythological liturgy but keeps the forge, the power hammer, the anvil, the tongs and the sledgehammer — and when he strikes the hot iron you can hear it from outside the workshop, because the blow of the hammer on the anvil has a sound that no other craft produces.

Under a stone arch, a forge's open door shows the anvil in the dark; the alley falls away towards the hills.

Where

Where it is practised in Tuscany

In Tuscany smithing has its historic capitals in Pistoia, where the Fonderia Marinelli e Ghisalberti and the tradition of bladed weapons have left a strong technical inheritance; in the Casentino in the Arezzo area, where water mills powered the hammers that worked iron for farm tools, building ironmongery and hunting weapons; and in the Firenze Mugello, a land of rural smiths and historic metal fabricators. Working workshops are found today more or less everywhere, from the industrial areas of Prato to the valleys around Pistoia, from the Arezzo countryside to the inland behind Livorno: the craft has shrunk in numbers but holds on, not least because the demand for artisan wrought iron for restoration, railings, gates, lamps and furnishing elements has never dried up.

An anvil on the bench with a row of hammers, tongs, chisels, a file and a curled hook of wrought iron.

How

The techniques of the craft

The techniques of the craft are many and each has its own tool. Hot forging is the heart of it: iron brought to red heat at 800-1100 degrees becomes ductile, and is worked with power hammer and sledge to draw out, bend, flatten and pierce. Bending gives shape to the scrolls, curls and decorative motifs typical of Tuscan wrought iron. Forge welding — two hot pieces beaten together — is the oldest and the most fascinating, the one that truly welds metals at the molecular level. Riveting joins parts without welding. Burnishing and patination finish the piece and protect it from rust. Then there are the specialisations: the farrier (shoeing horses), the knife forger, the art metalworker who makes monumental gates and railings, the restorer who rebuilds historic ironmongery for villas and palaces.

A blacksmith at the anvil in a forge open to the yard, the wall covered with tongs and hammers and the fire lit beneath the hood.

Now

The craft today

Doing it today means moving in a niche but stable market. Real wrought iron carries a high price — the labour is enormous — but it is sought for restoration, for fine interiors, for the wedding sector and high-end events. Many workshops combine artisan commission work with semi-industrial production of standard elements (nails, hinges, replica ironmongery for restoration). The real challenge is pollution and the costs of the forge: a coke or gas furnace in an urban area is ever harder to manage, and most new workshops open in outlying industrial areas.

The producers of this craft

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