May 2024 Volume 6

INDUSTRY NEWS

which has enjoyed rich interna tional exposure and is now a part of the permanent collection at the Cleveland Museum of Art. The war years were difficult; strict federal restrictions prevented the use of steel for decorative purposes. Martin’s three sons shifted the company’s focus to industrial items which their skilled craftsmen could produce. Tongs were a logical product, in demand by steel rolling mills, forge shops and other manufacturers.

Muse with Violin

For the following decade or so, the sons also dabbled in general metal fabrication in an attempt to survive and grow, while main taining a constant, albeit minor, flow of decorative work. Melvin, Martin’s youngest, told stories of how he had to completely reinvent himself as well as the company. Formally trained as an artist, he was forced to learn about industrial processes. He then sought out former customers and begged them to make anything their compa nies required which could be produced in the small blacksmith shop. During the post-war period, Rose Iron Works produced a variety of noteworthy works in collaboration with architects and designers. A number of murals and other decorative pieces were created, some in conjunction with key local designers and architects. Industrial open-die forgings and custom metal fabrication still paid the bills.

Martin offered an entirely new level of skill and product to the archi tects designing “Millionaires Row” residences during the teens and twenties. “Rose Iron Works or equal” requests frequently accompa nied specifications for metalwork on leading architect’s drawings. Shifting Focus

Driven by a fascination with anything new, Martin traveled to Paris for the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts show that introduced the new Art Nouveau motif (later to be known as Deco) to the world. There he met and even tually was able to entice a skilled designer to leave a premier Paris atelier and join the company in 1929. Unfortunate timing! The introduction of these designs was sadly curtailed by the economic times, although the company is well recognized as having contrib uted substantially to the American adoption of the new motifs. A notable example of this is “Muse with Violin”, a decorative screen,

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