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Found
Objects, Collections & Tools
:: The Anvil Page
| Anvils....ahhhhh,
a subject we can all warm up to. The anvil forms the basis of
production for working with iron. There's a long and arcane
history associated with these things, and believe it or not,
there are a lot of 'experts' on this topic. I know this because
I actually spent a fair amount of time researching the issue,
(mostly out of boredom), back in the mid-90s. |
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number one avnil in my collection is this Peter Wright 135 lb.
anvil, cast in England, probably late 1800s. It belonged to
Charlie Storm, who lived on Veterans Memorial Parkway in East
Providence RI. Charlie owned Ace Body & Radiator on Charles
Street in Providence, and over the years banvilpageuilt all manner of
things automotive - engines, body and chassis, suspensions,
etc. He was also an accomplished blacksmith, and the wear on
the surface of this anvil speaks to years of heavy pounding.
(it also suggests he should have had a heavier anvil.)
Charlie passed away when I was traveling in Europe and Africa,
on the Second Great Tour, and years later his widow sold me
this anvil. I had it for over 15 years when we lived in East
Providence, and had it shipped to Richmond in 1995.
It
is presently sitting in my driveway. It last saw action during
Field Day of The Past (Fall of 2004).
I
have four or five other specimens kicking around - there's
also a broken Fisher Anvil (below) that's rather interesting,
dates from 1904. Mostly all found objects.
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Another
more common anvil is seen in this example of a piece of rail
road track - in this case a piece of West Virginia coal mine
rail. Distinctive for it's low profile, massive web section
and oversize bulb rail, this section of Number One steel rail
is fairly well indestructible.
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This
specimen is a small European, possibly German, pattern anvil
that I brought back from France on one of our subsequent trips
back to visit Micheline's family. I bought it at one of the
mega-stores (Carrefours) sometime in the 1980s. It has the double
horn pattern - one tapered square and one tapered round. This
is considered a bit more versatile that the curved horn of the
traditional English or American anvil. It is mounted on a log
stump.
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