Pair of Brass and Wrought Iron Andirons with Stacked Heart-Lobe Uprights in the Manner of Raymond Subes. France. Circa 1940.

These striking andirons are formed by a rhythmic column of stacked heart-shaped lobe forms in brass, each element connected to the next by vertical rods to create an upright of considerable visual vitality. The sequence of lobes, tapering slightly toward the top, is crowned by a pair of small outward-curling scroll finials — a playful and refined conclusion to the ascending composition. The arch-form base feet spread with assurance beneath the shafts, and plain angled log dogs extend rearward with functional economy. The warm golden brass of the shaped elements contrasts effectively with the darker iron of the structural rods and log dogs.

The heart or lobe form — a recurrent motif in Subes’ decorative vocabulary — is here deployed with particular lightness and rhythm, the sequential repetition creating a column that is at once architecturally regular and organically animated. The bimaterial construction, combining bright brass for the decorative lobes with darker wrought iron for the structural elements, is characteristic of the refined approach that distinguishes the finest pieces produced in the orbit of Raymond Subes’ atelier during the 1930s and 1940s.

The pair is in very good condition, the brass elements retaining a warm golden patina and the iron components showing natural ageing consistent with age and fireside use. The structural integrity is sound and the scroll finials intact on both pieces. The pair presents as a well-matched ensemble of considerable decorative quality and sculptural presence.

Raymond Subes (1891–1970) was the pre-eminent French master of decorative ironwork in the twentieth century. While not signed, these andirons share the formal vocabulary and bimaterial refinement of pieces associated with his circle, in which heart and lobe motifs, scroll finials, and arch-form feet were recurring elements of a coherent design language. They represent a graceful and technically accomplished contribution to the French ferronnerie d’art tradition.