Wrought Iron Gate and Marie Laveau New Orleans

by Kathleen K Parker

Title

Wrought Iron Gate and Marie Laveau New Orleans

Artist

Kathleen K Parker

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Photograph - Photography

Description

Here is a fine example of a wrought iron fence gate.This was shot in St. Louis I Cemetery on Basin St. in New Orleans. This cemetery is the oldest and most historic of all our cemeteries here. Note the tomb with the XXXX behind the gate. That is supposedly the final resting place of
Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau. According to Wikipedia "Ironwork is any weapon, artwork, utensil or architectural feature made of iron especially used for decoration. There are two main types of ironwork wrought iron and cast iron. While the use of iron dates as far back as 4000BC, it was the Hittites who first knew how to extract it (see iron ore) and develop weapons. Use of iron was mainly utilitarian until the Middle Ages, it became widely used for decoration in the period between the 16th and 19th century.Wrought ironwork is forged by a blacksmith using an anvil. The earliest known ironwork are beads from Jirzah in Egypt dating from 3500 BC and made from meteoric iron with the earliest use of smelted iron dates back to Mesopotamia. However, the first use of conventional smelting and purification techniques that modern society labels as true iron-working dates back to the Hittites in around 2000 BC.[1]Cast iron is produced in a furnace stoked with alternate layers of coking iron then poured into molds. After the iron cools off, the sand is cleaned off. The Chinese were the first to use cast iron from the 6th century AD using it as support for pagodas and other buildings.
It was introduced into Europe by the 15th century with its main decorative uses being as firebacks and plates for woodburning stoves in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. By the end of the 18th century, cast iron was increasing used for railings, balconies, banisters and garden furniture due to its lower cost.".(wikipedia)

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July 31st, 2013

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