4 Responses to “Iron Dragons”

1. 
   Flickr: Arch-Sculptures, on December 25th, 2009 at 9:44 am Said:

   These are very rare now, I only know of one other set and they too lacked the wings. Those were restored by an iron company. I can’t remember where that set is now but they are in lower Manhattan somewhere.

   I had 4 of these years ago and 2 came from near Broome st by the park, back around 1978 a street gang found me in a building on Broome salvaging and wanted to make money pulling stuff out for me, so I paid them to do the work. They had bricks all over the street, man it was a scene! but they controlled the neighborhood and no one did a thing.
   Next thing I knew a little while later their head kid caught me in the area and told me they had something for me and took me to a building where they had 2 of these iron dragons. I bought them and asked where they came from, so they took me around the corner and showed me, and holy shit, it was an occupied tenement they had just tore them off the stoop from! What got me next was what the head kid said then- pointing to the sculptures on the facade asking how much I’d pay them to get them for me, and I mentioned the building was occupied… he said, no problem, they could burn the building out!

   I left them quickly and never dealt with them again.
   I saw the same gang destroy a jewish taylor’s shop on Broome St around #300 Broome- smashed the windows out, wrecked the place, and the old man whose shop it was sat on the curb crying his eyes out.

   Back to the iron, these dragons have been reproduced in cheap aluminum for about $135 by some place that gets them cast in Mexico for garden fountains.
   I bought one, and examining it I could see it was molded off an original for sure. Sure would like to make some in cast iron with the wings.

   The iron ones by the way date to the late 1870′s/early 1880′s, and many that were installed had their wings removed or damaged because they stuck out and were somewhat of a hazzard to long dresses. The ears were also often ground down because they were very sharp. The wings were only held on with one or two hot rivets, and those corroded over time and the wings fell off.
   So intact ones are non-existant and of the 4 I had, only one had one wing, and that one had a different base- a large square base that looked like it was an upside down doric capital- that one came from the Bronx.

2. 
   Flickr: Arch-Sculptures, on December 25th, 2009 at 9:47 am Said:
3. 
   Flickr: Arch-Sculptures, on December 25th, 2009 at 5:44 pm Said:

   These are very rare now, I only know of one other set and they too lacked the wings. Those were restored by an iron company. I can’t remember where that set is now but they are in lower Manhattan somewhere.

   I had 4 of these years ago and 2 came from near Broome st by the park, back around 1978 a street gang found me in a building on Broome salvaging and wanted to make money pulling stuff out for me, so I paid them to do the work. They had bricks all over the street, man it was a scene! but they controlled the neighborhood and no one did a thing.
   Next thing I knew a little while later their head kid caught me in the area and told me they had something for me and took me to a building where they had 2 of these iron dragons. I bought them and asked where they came from, so they took me around the corner and showed me, and holy shit, it was an occupied tenement they had just tore them off the stoop from! What got me next was what the head kid said then- pointing to the sculptures on the facade asking how much I’d pay them to get them for me, and I mentioned the building was occupied… he said, no problem, they could burn the building out!

   I left them quickly and never dealt with them again.
   I saw the same gang destroy a jewish taylor’s shop on Broome St around #300 Broome- smashed the windows out, wrecked the place, and the old man whose shop it was sat on the curb crying his eyes out.

   Back to the iron, these dragons have been reproduced in cheap aluminum for about $135 by some place that gets them cast in Mexico for garden fountains.
   I bought one, and examining it I could see it was molded off an original for sure. Sure would like to make some in cast iron with the wings.

   The iron ones by the way date to the late 1870′s/early 1880′s, and many that were installed had their wings removed or damaged because they stuck out and were somewhat of a hazzard to long dresses. The ears were also often ground down because they were very sharp. The wings were only held on with one or two hot rivets, and those corroded over time and the wings fell off.
   So intact ones are non-existant and of the 4 I had, only one had one wing, and that one had a different base- a large square base that looked like it was an upside down doric capital- that one came from the Bronx.

4. 
   Flickr: Arch-Sculptures, on December 25th, 2009 at 5:47 pm Said:

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