Cats, bats and frogs as enchanting familiars – Happy Halloween

While cats were often celebrated as symbols of good luck and were revered in Egyptian and Asian cultures, in Europe they took on a sinister role as the companions or familiars of witches who cast malevolent spells. It seems that this undeserved reputation took hold with the advent of the black plaque that devastated Europe in the 1600’s. This is rather ironic given that cats are superb predators of rats and indirectly of the fleas they carry making them extremely useful companions that are good for one’s health.
Witches suffered a similar plight and while the verb bewitched is synonymous with “enchanted” “charmed” “beguiled” it is also used to suggest evil powers and malevolent spells.

The negative image of witches spread to other creatures with which they were associated such as frogs and bats. Frogs and bats are both nocturnal and often live-in swamps, muddy ponds and caves, facts that helped advance their negative place in folklore.
Like many we like all these creatures and have portrayed them more favorably in our animal cabinet pulls and cat themed door knobs.
The 3 cats shown in our banner are Persian, Rag Doll and Common cat. Cast in solid bronze and patinaed and then sealed with an oil rubbed finish.

Our frog and bat cabinet pulls are made as left or right facing which allows for a more creative placement on cabinet doors that open to the left and right.

Happy Halloweeen

A very Happy Halloween to all of you from the bats, frogs and other creatures here at Martin Pierce Hardware.

Happy Halloween

Fear not this Halloween our bats will not entangle your hair nor slippery toads crawl up your legs as our creatures are cast in weighty bronze.

Let the witching hour commence!

Gold Cabinet Pulls or Polished Bronze?

When is gold truly gold and when is it polished bronze? This is a tongue in cheek question and the answer reflects (pun intended) the high luster and jewel like appearance of polished bronze.
While we do occasionally gold plate our door hardware and while this clearly adds value to the item, for many, the appearance of gold is what is needed to create an accent to cabinetry.
Bronze is an alloy containing copper and this is what makes it a golden color. Copper and Gold are both elements on the Periodic table Cu and Au respectively and while they are both malleable and were used by early man they differ considerably in terms of scarcity and hence cost. A visit to https://www.jlab.org/ revealed that the “name Copper comes from the Latin Cuprum meaning “from the Island of Cyprus” which is where the Romans obtained the majority of their copper ore. The name gold comes from the Sanskrit word Jval and the Anglo-Saxon word gold.” Gold and bronze are both very soft mediums and in the case of silicon bronze tin and silicon are adding to copper to create a harder more durable alloy.

Frog Cabinet Pulls Polished Bronze

To create a highly polished surface the casting goes through 3 stages of progressively finer buffing;
First, we buff it using a high strength non-woven nylon disk on a mechanized buffing wheel, as the disk is not woven it is pliable and can buff irregular shapes. The material of the disk contains aluminum oxide a mineral that makes sharp very fine cuts into the surface of the bronze which helps to create consistent brush marks over the entire surface. We use a medium grit disk made by Standard Abrasives.
The piece is then hand polished using a 400-grit fine wet/dry sandpaper.
Lastly, we buff the pull on a cloth buffing wheel. Buffing compound is applied to the edge of the rotating cloth disk and when sufficiently coated the pull is pressed against the edge of the disk to create a high luster.

Reflection of KAUAI Beauty in Martin Pierce Work

We have recently shared our Hawaiian cabinet pulls on Instagram so wanted to share some photos from our recent trip to Hanalei Bay in Kauai, HI.

Golden Palm with resting Red Headed Cardinal Bamboo Cabinet Pull cast in bronze

This was our first visit to the oldest and lushest of the Hawaiian Islands and we stayed on the north shore known for its sandy beaches, tropical forests and great hikes. We woke each morning to a chorus of bird song from native minor birds, red whiskered bulbuls and white rumped shama. The proliferation of bird life is a testament to the healthy habitat of this tropical gem that remains almost 80% un populated with many areas inaccessible to cars and to all but the most seasoned of hikers.

How many frogs do you see?

Thankfully, there were more accessible trails near Princeville including the Okolehao Trail, a 2.5 mile hike that climbs to 1,250 feet, which while muddy underfoot was home to a multitude of orchids, hibiscus and golden palm and bamboo. At the beginning of the trail we spotted a very well camouflaged frog which was especially rewarding as the arid conditions in our home, Los Angeles, have rendered frogs scarce in our local Nichols Canyon and Griffith Park.

There is one coastal road that takes you from Lihue to the remote and breathtaking craggy cliffs of Na Pali,  where on route,  tree lovers are rewarded with the sight of hundreds of Koa ,Eucalyptus and native Pine trees. The Koa trees are part of the acacia family and have wonderful airy feathery canopies that reminded me of the tree canopy used in our Hedgerow style of door handles.

Princeville is also the location of the St. Regis hotel and we stopped by to see how well our

custom Hawaiian door handles are holding up to the local weather and I am pleased to report that after 8 years they have developed a rich deep brown patina with a touch of verdegris.