Talk:Andiron

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Image request[edit]

This page should have an illustration.--Prosfilaes 18:31, 14 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Etymological nuance[edit]

Yes, andirons are sometimes called dogs, dog irons, or firedogs, but that fact was not caused by the fact that they sometimes have sculptures of canines cast into them (although the sculptures do play on the dual meaning of the word dog), and there was no literal-to-figurative extension of meaning from earlier canine-sculptured andirons to later non-sculptured ones. They are called dogs for the same reason that bench dogs, lathe dogs, clutch dogs, or feed dogs are called dogs—because they are dogs in the inanimate-object sense, that is, the engineering sense (see Dog (engineering)). Although that engineering sense itself most likely came from the analogy to a canine dog biting and holding on, I think it is clearly folk etymology to say that the name dog was applied to andirons only after, and because of, a canine decoration. It is most likely that the figurative extension of canine dog to inanimate-holder-or-blocker dog came about linguistically before anyone made a playful decoration based on the dual meaning. The decoration is because of the name, not vice versa. I will edit the article shortly. — ¾-10 19:31, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed. — ¾-10 19:41, 21 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Firedog should be merged to andiron[edit]

I got this info from Louvre (http://www.louvre.fr/llv/oeuvres/detail_notice.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226284&CURRENT_LLV_NOTICE%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673226284&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=9852723696500820&baseIndex=30&bmLocale=en)

Pair of firedogs ('feu') with perfume burner

The term 'feu' refers to the two firedogs decorating the front of a hearth and concealing the wrought-iron bars supporting the logs. The history of the Louvre 'feu', which doubled as a perfume burner, is particularly well documented; it is signed by the goldsmith François-Thomas Germain and dated. The lavish, scrolling lines, the spiraling movement of the composition and the richly detailed chasing all designate these pieces as exemplary of the art of rocaille bronze furnishings.


Some info from Encarta dictionary:

ANDIRON and·i·ron [ánd ərn] (plural and·i·rons) noun

metal holder for fireplace logs: either of a pair of metal stands used to hold logs in a fireplace. Also called firedog

Also called dog


FIREDOG fire·dog [fr dòg] (plural fire·dogs) noun

Southern U.S. See andiron 


Can somebody do this now? --Rochelimit (talk) 15:36, 7 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Andirons seem to be a special concept to build up a firedog ("a pair of ... stands"). Not all firedogs are built from andirons, as the picture of the ancient greek firedog shows. The moon idols seem to be usable for the andiron concept of firedog. Will try an adopted first sentence. --Hans Katzgraber (talk) 21:45, 7 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

So, what's a fire dog?[edit]

Is it just two andirons? If so, it might be best to use the verb form (as in "used in pairs to form a firedog"), or make, because build up implies creating a construction, some complicated object with unspecified details, apparently called a "fire dog" but not explained in the article. 81.131.34.172 (talk) 20:44, 11 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Blacklisted Links Found on Andiron[edit]

Cyberbot II has detected links on Andiron which have been added to the blacklist, either globally or locally. Links tend to be blacklisted because they have a history of being spammed or are highly inappropriate for Wikipedia. The addition will be logged at one of these locations: local or global If you believe the specific link should be exempt from the blacklist, you may request that it is white-listed. Alternatively, you may request that the link is removed from or altered on the blacklist locally or globally. When requesting whitelisting, be sure to supply the link to be whitelisted and wrap the link in nowiki tags. Please do not remove the tag until the issue is resolved. You may set the invisible parameter to "true" whilst requests to white-list are being processed. Should you require any help with this process, please ask at the help desk.

Below is a list of links that were found on the main page:

  • http://www.bible-history.com/ibh/Greek+Sculpture/Animal+Forms/Terracotta+of+a+Fire+Dog
    Triggered by \bbible\-history\.com\b on the local blacklist

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"Boars heads"[edit]

Pair of French Rococo andiron fronts, with boars heads. – I might be mistaken, but is that not one boar's head and one lion's head? I cannot find any indication of "boars heads" being used as a general term for head-shaped decorations, so this might possibly be a mistake on a near-sighted Wikipedian's part =)


--Vadim Galimov (talk) 13:40, 18 April 2020 (UTC)[reply]