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Wood cabinet, detail,
Photograph by Sharon H. Garvey |
From the October 1891 issue of Art Interchange:
Miss Osgood, of the Osgood Art School (Broadway and 14th St., N.Y.) announces classes in Burnt Wood (or, as it is sometimes called, 'Poker Decoration'). This pastime has had a great vogue in England and it is likely to be popular here. Some charming and ambitious examples of it were at an art studio exhibition a year ago.
In 1949, the above was reprinted in an article in The Spinning Wheel's Complete Book of Antiques, with the following comment by Bettye Lawson McCurley:
Miss Osgood's enterprise heralded the revival and refinement of hot poker decoration, a studio art form recognized fifty years earlier (Jan. 1856). As the technique of the medium spread from the studio into the home in the two decades from 1890 to 1910, individuals of creative bent welcomed pyrography as a parlor pastime and produced hundreds of useful and ornamental pieces of burntwood.
That Marvelous Invention--The Victorian Pyrographic Kit!
Since the time of Bob Boyer's hypothetical cavemen ("The Amazing Art of Pyrography") who heated metal implements in the fire and transferred designs onto other materials such as wood and leather, the technology really didn't change much until the invention of the benzine-fueled tool of the Victorian era. Always before that, heat control was a big factor in the capability to produce varied work.
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Pyrographic Kit Benzine-fueled tool dating from the beginning of the 20th Century. Pyroengraved box with color and Pyrographic Tool in its own wood box, Also partially decorated in pyrography Recently acquired from the estate of Hazel Schmoll who lived from 1890 to 1989 Museum of Art and History Boulder, Colorado Photographs by Jehnie Burns |
In his research on antique pyrographic tools, Bob Boyer found that the earliest patent for a wire-tipped tool similar to the ones used by most pyrography artists today was in 1916. (He shows the patent in his book.)
The Factories
It was inevitable that factories would materialize to supply the demand created by the invention of the benzine-fueled tool and the ladies magazines. First and foremost among suppliers of tools and wood items was The Flemish Art Company of New York, so much so that the name "Flemish Art" became one more generic term for pyrography, along with burnt wood and wood etch as well, and poker work or poker art from its earlier life.
The Sears Roebuck Company started to offer some of the Flemish Art Company's supplies in the Sears catalogue. Later they switched and got their supplies from the competition, Thayer and Chandler of Chicago, Illinois.
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Commercial Box for Sewing Supplies, American Bearing a factory-stamped pyrographed pattern Inherited by Sharon H. Garvey from her grandparents "Pyromania": Name given to a design-intense pyrographic work popular at that time in which every space was textured, shaded, or outlined all in burning and often enhanced with a little (or sometimes more) color Photograph by Sharon H. Garvey |
According to antique collectors Richard and Carole Smyth of Huntington, NY, in their book, The Burning Passion, the factories were not only manufacturing the pyrographic kits, including instructions, unfinished wood pieces for the hobbyist to buy and decorate, and paints to further enhance the woodburned items, they were also selling some unfinished wood items with a design pre-stamped on them (usually in purple or brown ink) for the hobbyist to burn over. Not only that, they were supplying some unfinished wood pieces with a design already pyroengraved by means of a heated engraving plate, ready for the hobbyist to paint only. This type of preparation is called "scorched" and is also sometimes referred to as "stamped" (not to be confused with those stamped with ink).
A distinction in the appearance of this scorched pyrography compared to hand-done pyrography is that the pyroengraved line tends to be shallower. Another means to identify this type is that the design is often repeated from the outside of the box to the inside of the lid.
The factories even sold pieces to the general public and to other commercial concerns that were completely decorated in pyrography (by means of the heated engraving plate), painted, and finished. The box above, which was sold with sewing supplies, is an example of this last type. Shown in the picture is the inside of the lid bearing a design identical to the one on the outside.
There remain some questions, however. What happened to those factories? And what happened to the engraving plates when the factories disappeared? Research is already underway in the hope of answering these questions. Perhaps someone reading this article may help us by shedding some light on this mystery.
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| Australian Pyrographic Kit Early 1900's >From the private collection of Jan Crawford, Australia Photograph by Mixo Sydenham |
In Australia, it seems, pyrography was no less a sensation than it was in America at the turn of the century. Above is the Australian pyrographic tool that emerged during that period, and below, two samples of pyroengraved work very representative of the most popular sorts of wood pieces available, and in styles, colors, and motifs typefying the taste of Australian pyrographers at that time.
| Small Round Trinket Box with Lid and Tall Wood Vase Australian origin, artist unknown, circa 1910 Well preserved pyroengraved pieces In favored Australian motifs of that time period >From the private collection of K. J. Mixo Sydenham Photograph by Mixo Sydenham |
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©1997 Kathleen M. Garvey Menendez
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Pyrography Collecting Pyrography, Conclusion
Pyrograffiti: E-Museum Announcement, References from Article, Items of
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