Interview

J.A.S. collector
story of a passion

n Who is  JAS, could you introduce yourself?

J.A.S.: I am a businessman. From 1946 on I built and sold in Europe quality furniture in solid oak and walnut and mostly of Spanish style. I developed my professional activity around the decorative arts, and my initial training, in industrial mechanics, produced on me this interest in antique handcrafts.

In my teens, in the late 30´s, I became interested in art and antiques, no doubt influenced by my maternal grandfather who was an antiquarian, an activity that I decided to continue. My hobby in collecting also extends to other fields, apart from the antique wrought iron, I have a collection of postcards and photographs, tools, watches, coins, bronzes, etc., but my main interest was mainly the forged and filed blacksmithing and locksmithing, when there still were interesting pieces.Taking this opportunity I would like to cite the beautiful poetic prose of the museum curator, Catherine Vaudour: "Iron is the material of all contrasts, opposed to copper and gold, where the color evokes the sun, therefore, the light is the day and the life. Iron is the element of shadows that recalls the night, the absence and the death. Shadow is just a transition between the light and the darkness, between the cosmos and the chaos. Similarly, iron is not dark oin its natural darkness.It  absorbs the light with subtle reflections on the gaps of its roughness. Smooth and polished, it becomes as alive as silver and it can be at the level of the richness of precious metals. The value of this material increases with the manipulation. The beauty of greys is not inferior to that of gold. The gates were closed  at the sunset , the balconies, from the inside, drew their black interlaced over a background of landscapes. The bars in the apses of chapels, guarding treasures, the badges against the light at the bottom of the sky, his calligraphy through the skylights where the chiaroscuro dialogue ..."(1)

 What is the content of your museum? Can you introduce it?

J.A.S.: This is a collection of nearly 4,500 antique wrought iron pieces covering a period of more than seven centuries. I have collected these objects, evidence of our civilization, which blacksmiths, behind an absolute anonymity, made with a talent and energy out of the ordinary, considering that in those days they had few resources. Making a chest lock, a lock cabinet or a series of  balcony bars, demanded a lot of time working in very hard conditions. Domestic civilian objects, locks and keys, door nails, hinges, door knobs, knockers,  balusters, etc.., everything needed for the front door or the cabinet, the daily full of culture and symbolism, and even of poetry.

These objects speak to us, our ancestors are speaking to us through them. They have certainly developed a technical function, but they are also signs of a social status, an outward sign of wealth or power, the reflect of a period that can be Romanesque, Gothic, Plateresque, Renaissance or Baroque. The great Islamic influence for nearly seven centuries in Spain, it is clearly apparent in the style of the piece set, which the History of Art calls "Mudejar".

They are a tangible sign of the good work of a secular effort, but also that characterizes the human condition. Our desire to believe in beauty, art, makes us realize not only the role they play in a door or in a facade, but they are the result of long and laborious process of manufacture, which begins with the extraction of the iron mineral and that involves several trades. The blacksmiths´ creative power was developed by following technical guidelines and was influenced by the culture of that time. Blacksmiths combined the four elements, iron, fire, air and water into the furnace of his forge.This alchemy created a legendary figure, endowed with physical and occult powers helped by the gods.

About 15 years ago, I mounted the pieces on easily transportable panels, installed in a dozen of rooms in the  mansion of my maternal ancestors; it is easily dismountable in order to be moved and displayed elsewhere.

When and how did you build up the collection?

J.A.S.: It has been a great quest  for nearly seventy years and it comes mostly from the Iberian Peninsula and partly from France. A big amount of  constancy, a lot of effort and emotion, many thousands of kilometres covered and big expenses have been required; please understand me, the acquisition of a wrought iron culture, of great joy, sometimes of disappointments, like any human enterprise, but the first an inexplicable desire is to present a complete overview of this issue. My passion for wrought iron has been gradually known and I have been offered, from the most unexpected places, antique irons I didn´t always acquired. All the pieces I present were not, obviously, in the condition you see them; some of the were rusty, some twisted or broken, most blackened or worn by use. With patience and knowledge they were set in order of exposure by respecting and reflecting their original production, their shapes and the work of the artists who created the pieces.

A difficult question for a collector, what is the future of your treasure?

J.A.S.: Everything in human life has got an end, what I possess, you are right, you should never forget that it is a great collection "I was born naked and I´ll die naked". We must learn to get rid of some loved things; after a time of collecting and preserving a heritage that has given me so much joy, a new time comes, that of the transmission. Helped by my children, whose interests are focused on other issues, I have decided to get rid of this museum today or tomorrow. I´d prefer that it remained clustered as much as possible; it can be purchased by a cultural institution that appreciates a rich iron heritage or by a  particular collector provided with the relevant means.

(1)     Catalog of the exposition Forge et Forgerons, jeux d'ombres et de lumière,  Val d'Oise Museum, 2007-2008, Valhermeil éditions, 64p.

The contents of the museum in
figures

¢ More than 400 different, complete bolts between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries. More than 330 different balusters or wrought bars, twisted, punched, embossed with some square, cylindrical and salomonical sectors in the same unit; many of them are handy engraved, with exquisite "artichokes", with all its bases and rings worked by fire, between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. Over 180 door knockers, partly with true figures of human limbs, lions, dogs, reptiles, birds and several animals, also of disk or washer, of hammer, turned with lime, etc.., All of them have got their anvils and they are uneven in design, between the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries. About 850 nails of one, two or three different bodies and forged by fire, precious, antique, engraved, embossed and filed.

More than 400 large and medium keys, selected according to their format and with complicated teeth, between the fourteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Over 350 forged and limed hinges and strap hinges, with graceful drawings and multiple drafts, between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries. 70 interesting keyholes, pierced and partly embossed. More than 120 latches and  large door-bolts, between the sixteenth and the twentieth centuries. About 150 nice, pierced, engraved and very worked door handles of oscillating shell or knob.

More than 300 cut, pierced and very limed sheet corners; they were necessary squares to enforce coffers, large chests and furniture between the fifteenth and the nineteenth centuries. 80 special, wrought and limed door knockers, between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries.

It also includes about 1000 different and chosen objects, among which there are several ethnographic tools such as grids of convents, large and medium scales, large and small stocks for bears, twisted and beautiful andirons, struts or large and resourceful supports, a variety of tools, household tools, collars, knives, forge bellows... between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries.

All the pieces are submitted for display, they are set between artistic columns on woody pannels covered with fabric of colours; the collection is completely movable, since the whole columnar assembly is coupled with concealed fasteners for assembly or disassembly.