What does Wendell Agust have in common with the Smithsonian, The Hindenburg, and cathedrals? Who are the people who have created hand-wrought metal for 75 years? Answers to these questions - and more - in this authoritative and richly illustrated book.

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Influenced in part by the effects of the Great Depression, mid-20th Century metal workers capitalized on the use of affordable metals such as aluminum. Foremost among those developing ornamental applications of the first modern metal was the Wendell August Forge, which pioneered the hand forged aluminum industry. 

The repousse embellishments that the Forge introduced in the early 1930s swept the United States, dominating a market for decorative aluminum wares that prevailed for more than 20 years.

Among the major producers of hand crafted aluminum objects, only the Wendell August Forge survives, continuing to make unique hand crafted wares in a wide range of metals. From architectural ornamentation to modest tablewares, the body of work created by the Wendell August Forge since it began operation in 1923 has gained the attention of collectors and museums alike. Artifacts that in earlier years were discarded now find their way into an active secondary market in which some of them exchange hands at hundreds and occasionally thousands of dollars.

The Wendell August Forge: Seventy Five Years of Artistry in Metal is enriched with more than 150 full-color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations, including 68 archival images, featuring hundreds of items. Extensively documented, it is the first authoritative publication pertaining to a topic of growing interest to collectors, museums, decorative art historians, and American Culture researchers. Selected aluminum artisans who were associated with the Wendell August Forge are also profiled. Detailed appendixes present the only guidelines that have been researched and developed for dating Wendell August artifacts.

Wendell August Forge : Seventy Five Years of Artistry in Metal

Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Preface
Chapter One - Founding an Industry
Chapter Two - The Golden Era: 1931-1938
Chapter Three - The War Years: 1939-1948
Chapter Four - A Struggle to Survive: 1949-1977
Chapter Five - The Knecht Transformation: 1978-1994
Chapter Six - Building the Future
Appendix A - The People of the Wendell August Forge
Appendix B - United States Patent for "Method of Forming Ornamental Relief Figures"
Appendix C - Wendell August Forge Trademark Handstamps
Appendix D - Die Engravers and Craftsmen
Appendix E - Limited Edition and Collector Series
Appendix F - Wendell August Forge Dating Clues
Index of Text and Illustrations
Citations and Content Notes accompany each Chapter
Includes profiles of collateral aluminum artisans associated with the Wendell August Forge