Door Knocker

Contributed by Black Country Living Museum

Cast iron door knocker by Kenricks of West Bromwich. Copyright Black Country Living Museum

Kenricks started business in the 1790s in Spon Lane, West Bromwich. They were major iron founders, exporting cast iron goods world wide. They were famous for their patent coffee mills, potato mashers, pressure cookers, laundry irons and many other everyday articles, which were exported until at least the 1950s. Like many other founders they also exploited the decorative possibilities of the metal, bringing "art metal work" to a wide market through mass production. This way Kenricks made door furniture, umbrella stands, garden furniture and many other highly ornate items which reflected the various artistic influences which shaped every day things throughout the Victorian period; thus Rococo revival, Gothic and from the 1870s, the Aesthetic Movement.

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