The andirons are a warm welcome to your “life after”.
While many of us are rediscovering the charm of country houses where the “pleasure fire” warms and fascinates us, andirons, once forgotten, are making a comeback.
![Cast iron andirons - 18th century - Périgord - [ME062]](https://www.aux-rois-louis.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/ME062_013.jpg "ME062_013")
Cast iron andirons - 18ᵗʰ century - Périgord
Those who lived in previous centuries, in the heart of the “cantous” large enough to be able to sit on small benches placed on either side of the hearth, remember a simple life that they know how to tell us.
Take for example this pair of functional and elaborate andirons. They were cast in cast iron, in a lost clay mold, in an artisanal foundry such as existed in Périgord in the 18ᵗʰ century.
Their tapered and fluted shafts rest on a semicircular base, itself ribbed.
Their mission: to raise the logs to ensure good air circulation and, thanks to their inclination, to roll the logs backwards when they split during the combustion..
Robust and having in memory the heat of the cantous of our countryside where the pots smoked, the old cast iron andirons fashioned in the heart of Périgord have also been able to keep plump poultry, young wild boar or suckling pig on high or low heat, when the time had come to feast on farms as well as in manor houses. This is thanks to the spit-holder hooks provided for this purpose on the uprights, located in pairs in the low position and in the high position, so as to be able to adjust the cooking power at will.
Finally we observe, at the top of these andirons, two bowls which had a very specific function. We would melt the bacon there, intended to brush the pieces of meat that we patiently roasted here.
The sweet aroma, the diffused heat and the beauty of the flames always bring us so much pleasure and comfort. So take the plunge! Chimneys and andirons are there, stretching out their arms to you.
