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Architectural Classics BlogArchitectural Classics BlogAt the Architectural Classics blog, we combine traditionally comprehensive information on caring for your antiques, with the offbeat Art Deco style fun and trivia from the world of old homes, lighting and door hardware. Articles
Door Clichés - Doors in Pop and Modern Culture, part 1
2007-09-08 12:10:00 Far from being only a boring old simple noun, the word ?door? is probably one of the most metaphorically-used words in the English language, and is loaded with symbolism and meaning. It brings with it a sense of poetry, and a door can be your safety and protection, your captor, your privacy, your ticket to ... More About: Culture , Other , Part , Modern , Door
Period Living discovers our products!
2007-09-04 13:17:00 Thank you to Period Living Magazine for featuring our Art Nouveau Style Table Lamp and few of our cupboard knobs in their October Issue. More About: News , Products , Discover , Disc
Door Knob Counter
2007-09-01 11:12:00 How many door and drawer handles or knobs would you guess you touch in the average day? Well, the internet is a wide and wonderful world unto itself, and one research oriented soul decided to actually find out! This seemingly simple, but actually very deep (and fun!) research project had only the criteria that every door ... More About: Other , Counter , Door , Knob
Door decorating ? or not!
2007-08-28 11:27:00 When it comes to articles, the BBC?s h2g2 site is like a comic strip version of about.com ? with a definite British twist of lime in the humour. This article about door decoration goes a little beyond the pure comedy value of some of the articles (like the one about how to knock on doors!), ... More About: Door , Deco
Does Your Pewter Pee-uuw?
2007-08-24 12:48:00 There are two camps of antique-lovers in the world, we have found ? they are both just as passionate as each other in their love of the old, but don?t quite agree on how to keep and display their antiques. In the silver corner, wearing the bright and shiny trunks, and weighing in at 142 ... More About: Do It Yourself
How to Childproof a Drawer
2007-08-17 13:17:00 Well, the first things you?ll need are a drill set, some safety goggles, a welder ? Nah, just kidding! Actually, we have an even easier, more multi-purposed solution to the worries of keeping your kids out of drawers that you don?t want them to have access to. Sheer genius ? and I think we might, strangely ... More About: Other , Drawer
St Donat?s chandelier
2007-08-10 13:42:00 The Story Begins ? At Architectural Classics, we love history ? obviously! The opportunity recently came up to piece together some historical puzzles, return some history to its rightful spot, and look at some gorgeous photos of ancient Welsh architecture in the process. You can imagine the feeling in the office! We haven?t even needed coffee this ... More About: History , Other , Lier , Deli , Chan
Bang, Bang, Bang, on the Door, Baby!
2007-08-08 10:55:00 Who knew that the immortal and omniscient B-52s, in their 80s anthem Love Shack, would write a line that not everyone could relate to?!!! Impossible for such genius ;-) Seriously though, not many people might have thought about the fact that different cultures view slamming doors or knocking loudly on doors differently? it is ... More About: Baby , Other , Bang , Door , The D
Mixing Art and Religion - Cologne Cathedral Knocker
2007-08-06 10:20:00 Such a gorgeous, detailed, and artistic door and knocker! This lion?s head knocker is on the door of Cologne Cath edral , in Koln in Germany. It is far from the cathedral?s only feature though ? the whole building has a history spanning the hundreds of years it took to build it, its ravages in several wars, ... More About: Religion , Knock , Xing
Keep your lips well away from these knobs?
2007-08-03 10:55:00 Here at Architectural Classics we often have gorgeous, very old antique door hardware ? and the newer ones fall by the wayside a little. But we couldn?t go past these gorgeous frog door knobs! They are originals from the 50s, made with a light silver resin to look like alloy, and also made with antique ... More About: Lips , These , Knob , Well
James Gibbons ? at the Start of the Art
2007-07-29 10:02:00 The James Gibbons foundry is a very famous foundry in the UK, and it is really fascinating to read about the people and processes on the frontline of creating some of the architectural classics in our collection (albeit the newer pieces). We often look at how things are used, what you can do with them ... More About: Start , Ames , The A
Do Not Disturb ? Genius at Work!
2007-07-25 10:59:00 At Architectural Classics, we are all about the details. After all, you could fudge through with plain door handles from any old shop in your home ?but, fair enough, you don?t want to! We don?t either. These knob notes are all about the details and subtleties as well. They are modeled on the Victorian era, ... More About: Work , Genius
You Can Ring My Bell
2007-07-21 10:25:00 Although the internet has expanded our worlds by a billion times what they once were, it does come with its own set of positives and negatives. Buying things off the internet always has that element of risk, danger and surprise ? definitely not the same as the nice, comfortingly safe route of looking at something, ... More About: Ring , Bell
Remodelling that?s knob too expensive
2007-07-18 11:38:00 Okay? sorry about the title! But for every groan I think there?s a tiny smile inside somewhere! Seriously, if you are renovating your house, or trying to improve the value a bit before you sell it, door knobs are one of the easiest, most personal and cheapest ways to add value to you home. Greg ... More About: Knob
Don?t wear out the imaginary door knocker!
2007-07-15 11:04:00 Ah, the determination and the capacity for rage of some people who believe that the worst sin someone can commit is making them get off the couch because they think they are worthwhile talking to… Do you think some people just constantly need something to be angry about? Perhaps their calling in life is sarcasm, and ... More About: Other , Wear , Door , Knock
Strong people of the 12th century make androgynous knockers
2007-07-12 11:07:00 Wow ? such an awesome door knocker that if you had the chance to put it on your door, you probably wouldn?t even mind that it is a bit chipped. This is what cast bronze can look like as it ages, when it is left un-lacquered ? you get some gorgeous contrasts between the protruding ... More About: People , Make , Strong , Knock , Century
So Faintly You Came Tapping?
2007-07-09 11:28:00 My favourite tale of door knocking is The Raven, by Edgar Allen Poe. It was written in 1845, when door knockers had definitely become commonplace ? but they just don?t convey the same mystery, and wouldn?t allow the narrator the excuse that his visitor ?so gently … came tapping?! What a beautiful study in suspense and ... More About: Ping , Tapping , Fain
For the aperturically challenged
2007-07-05 11:42:00 Ha ha! I?m not even going to try to rewrite this in my own words. I can easily imagine a very dry, bespectacled British teacher declaiming about this subject to his class of somewhat frightened and very confused boarding school kids? ! I can also imagine Monty Python acting it out, though? It came from ... More About: Other , Allen , The A , Ally , Pert
History in Your Hands
2007-07-03 12:42:00 Every now and then we come across something really special at Architectural Classics. We have been lucky enough to come across this gorgeous stylised bronze knocker, dated from around the 16th century and made with many traditional elements. A woman?s head holds up the huge and heavy knocking arm, which consists of two putti, displaying ... More About: History , Hands , Tory
Door Knob Grips
2007-06-29 12:49:00 Some of you may have been known, perhaps once, to have struggled with opening a jar. Some females, and even some males ? ! Well, imagine how annoying it would be if that same sort of effort and strength was required from you just to open closed doors in your own house. It?d be a ... More About: Door , Knob
The UK?s most famous door
2007-06-25 11:21:00 Have a guess what the most famous door in the UK might open onto. Perhaps the UK?s most beautiful woman? Perhaps ? Liam Gallagher of Oasis? Perhaps it?s the door to the Chief?s office in The Bill? Well, that would be close to the most famous door in the UK! But this one has certainly ... More About: Famous , Door , The U
How to Age Brass - Ultimate Guide
2007-06-21 12:09:00 Brass is one of the more common materials for your old home?s furnishings and hardware to be made of. Back in the day (when your grand dad was but a twinkle in his pop?s eye), it was the cheapest, most readily available and most suitable metal for creating these pieces. Coincidentally, it also looks lovely ... More About: Guide , Ultimate , Brass , Guid
Modern Techniques and Antique Class
2007-06-18 12:23:00 Antoine Bourdelle created the beautiful Medusa head knocker from the May 18 blog post, and we found a promising quote from him in there, that he believed that sculpture was most beautiful when it was integrated into architecture. But unfortunately, he must not have had a chance to do much architectural sculpting in his lifetime, ... More About: Other , Modern , Class , Anti , Ique
Knocking Before Christ
2007-06-14 12:05:00 One of the oldest door knockers known to mankind is this one from the town of Olynthos in Ancient Macedonia, which has been dated at manufacture sometime around 340-430 BC. Nearly two and a half thousand years ago! The knocker is quite well made, considering the tools they would have had at the time to cast ... More About: Christ , Knock , Fore
Luminox ? Light in Oxford
2007-06-11 11:11:00 You will all be starting to think that we have misspelt our company name on the site, and that it is really Artchitectural Classics ? or perhaps that we are on the payroll of the UK Centre for the Arts ? with yet another post on architecture-related art. Lumi nox in Oxford a couple of months ago ... More About: Lighting , Light , Minox
Door Knocker or Door Knocking?
2007-06-07 11:32:00 Well! The BBC does have a sense of humour, of sorts ? ;-) Just kidding, you?re great! In their h2g2 offshoot site, under The Guide to Life, the Universe and Everything (the name is an adapted version of Douglas Adams? book of similar title), they have a guide to knocking on doors! Alex Ashman has ... More About: Door , Knock
Measure Twice, Cut Once - How to Fit a Mortise Lock
2007-06-03 16:14:00 Locks are a precision instrument, and mortice locks are one of the trickier varieties to maintain and fit! However, that makes it that much more satisfying when you fit one that works properly. Mort ice locks are used for most inside doors, which makes it not so imperative that you do an excellent job, as there ... More About: Once , Sure , Lock , Twice
Wrought Iron Maidens
2007-05-31 13:16:00 Wrought iron has produced some of the most beautiful architectural classic pieces around? from tiny escutcheons to the gorgeous Medusa head knocker, wrought iron has a specific look and feel that modern metal does not reproduce. Wrought iron is made by a very specific process. Nowadays, what we call wrought iron is technically worked ... More About: Maid , Iron Maiden , Aide , Iron , Maiden
The origins of nose piercing
2007-05-26 12:42:00 We may have discovered the origins of nose piercing, in this door knocker at Brasenose College in Oxford, England! This brass door knocker in the shape of a nose dates back to the twelfth century, when there were no celebrities with nose piercing, and the actual process would have been painful, unhygienic, and most likely ... More About: Nose , Pier , Piercing , The O , Origin
Ceremonial uses of light
More articles from this author:2007-05-23 11:57:00 At least part of the reason that you can find so many beautiful, ornate, handmade and gorgeous decorative lamps, lights and fixtures is the symbolism of light to cultures all over the world. Light is one of those wonderful nouns with a meaning well beyond it?s dictionary meaning ? and rare among these words and ... More About: Lighting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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