Andirons
Late 19th Century French Antique Andirons
Onyx, Bronze
19th Century French Napoleon III Antique Andirons
Bronze, Ormolu
Early 19th Century English Antique Andirons
Brass, Wrought Iron
19th Century French Louis Philippe Antique Andirons
Onyx, Wrought Iron, Ormolu
Mid-19th Century French Antique Andirons
Bronze
1810s English Regency Antique Andirons
Brass, Iron
19th Century French Renaissance Antique Andirons
Bronze
19th Century British Antique Andirons
Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Andirons
Steel
18th Century French Louis XVI Antique Andirons
Ormolu
21st Century and Contemporary American Mid-Century Modern Andirons
Brass, Iron
19th Century French Antique Andirons
Bronze
Early 20th Century British Arts and Crafts Andirons
Brass, Iron
Late 19th Century French Belle Époque Antique Andirons
Bronze
19th Century English Antique Andirons
Brass
19th Century Austrian Antique Andirons
20th Century Andirons
Iron
19th Century French Neoclassical Antique Andirons
Bronze
Late 20th Century Andirons
Late 19th Century English Anglo-Japanese Antique Andirons
Brass
Mid-20th Century American Colonial Andirons
Brass, Iron
20th Century American Art Deco Andirons
Nickel
1850s American American Empire Antique Andirons
Brass, Iron
Mid-20th Century European Mid-Century Modern Andirons
Wrought Iron
19th Century Spanish Other Antique Andirons
Brass, Iron
19th Century French Napoleon III Antique Andirons
Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century Italian Neoclassical Revival Andirons
Brass
1970s European Vintage Andirons
Bronze, Iron
Mid-19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Andirons
Bronze
Early 1900s French Louis XIV Antique Andirons
Bronze
1870s French Napoleon III Antique Andirons
Bronze, Brass
Late 19th Century French Antique Andirons
Bronze
Early 18th Century French Louis XIV Antique Andirons
Bronze, Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Andirons
Brass
Early 1900s Rococo Antique Andirons
Bronze
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Andirons
Iron
1950s French Vintage Andirons
Wrought Iron
Late 19th Century French Antique Andirons
Bronze
19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Andirons
Bronze, Ormolu
1910s Vintage Andirons
Bronze
1920s North American Vintage Andirons
Brass, Iron
1930s French Vintage Andirons
Brass, Iron
Mid-20th Century Andirons
Brass
Late 19th Century American American Classical Antique Andirons
Brass, Iron
Mid-20th Century Andirons
Brass
19th Century French Louis XIV Antique Andirons
Bronze, Wrought Iron
Early 20th Century Unknown Louis XV Andirons
Brass, Iron
Late 19th Century French Rococo Revival Antique Andirons
Bronze
1880s American Arts and Crafts Antique Andirons
Bronze, Iron
19th Century American Antique Andirons
Iron
18th Century Antique Andirons
Brass
Early 19th Century Antique Andirons
Brass
20th Century American Rustic Andirons
Brass, Iron
Late 19th Century English Baroque Antique Andirons
Brass
20th Century Andirons
Brass
Early 20th Century American Aesthetic Movement Andirons
Wrought Iron
1920s French Arts and Crafts Vintage Andirons
Metal, Brass
1950s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Andirons
Chrome, Iron
Antique and Vintage Andirons
A set of antique or vintage andirons is a staple accessory, part of the fireplace tools you’ll want to collect for keeping a neat and elegant fireplace in your home.
Using andirons in a fireplace elevates the fire, ensuring more air can get to the logs thus keeping a fire burning longer. Andirons also encourage ventilation and may also prevent smoke from working its way into your living room or bedroom.
Think of these accessories as part of an upright metal support system to optimize your fire. Antique andirons are basically u-shaped brackets with a curved end that come in pairs and are largely quite simple in structure, but the design of this household necessity has improved over time. Outwardly decorative andirons have become available since their debut because one should never underestimate the style quotient of an attractive hearth.
Andirons, which earned the nickname “firedogs” given their similarity in form to a pair of upright canines, are believed to be the oldest fireplace furnishings. They have been used broadly since at least the late Iron Age. Before iron became the material of choice, stone andirons did a suitable job of balancing the logs in a fire and adding a sense of symmetry to the hearth. Fire baskets, like the combination of andirons and a grate, afforded an opportunity to layer logs in a fire rather than delicately stacking them on andirons.
Today, andirons can be found in bronze and brass, too, which contrast wonderfully with a mantel carved from dark marble, for example, and add dimension to what might otherwise be a subdued space. And while people aren’t cooking in the fireplace anymore, andirons’ spit hooks offered an opportunity to roast meat or rest the pokers that you typically would’ve kept fireside.
During the Renaissance, andirons became especially ornate and even figurative, taking on human forms as well as marine life such as dolphins. Art Deco–era andirons are particularly exquisite. While the accessories are frequently characterized by rich geometric angles and sculptural curves, attributes that we know of most Art Deco furniture, artisans of the period also looked to what was by then a long tradition of designing andirons in the shape of animals and reptiles.
Adding fashionable antique or vintage andirons will not only improve the quality of a fire but can also elevate your space as well as the fireside experience. Find modern andirons, Art Nouveau andirons and other varieties today on 1stDibs.