Oven plate
Oven plates are cast iron plates in different sizes that are often decorated with reliefs. These are individual parts of iron box ovens which were common from the 15th to the 19th century.
history
With the increasing development of the iron foundry after the emergence of efficient blast furnaces , the development of iron box furnaces for heating rooms, which were assembled from individual cast iron plates, began at the end of the 15th century. The most widespread form was the so-called rear- loading furnace, which consisted of a total of five panels: bottom and top panels, a front panel and two side panels, which were all screwed together. The bottom, top and side panels were also built into the wall behind the stove. The stove could then be fired from the neighboring room through an opening in the wall. The front plate and the two side plates were mostly decorated with reliefs. They often provided saints, Scenes from the Bible or historical events, coats of arms were often used. The models for these reliefs were often carved from models by important artists. The bottom and top panels remained undecorated, but they were mostly provided with a circumferential groove in which the side and front panels sat. Sometimes the stove was also provided with a structure made of tiles, so that a hybrid form between iron and tiled stove was created. In this case, the top plate of the iron stove had an opening through which the heat from the fire could enter the structure. In some stoves there was a second box, also made of iron plates, on the lower box. To connect the side and front panels, narrow, often decorated cover strips were used, which were placed over the corner of the stove from the outside and secured with screws from the inside. The whole box oven rested below on a brick or stone base, but sometimes also on columns or iron feet.
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The importance of plate ovens declined due to the appearance of round ovens (which were also jokingly called cannon ovens ) from the middle of the 18th century . In the 19th century they finally disappeared from the production of ironworks . However, the individual panels of dismantled ovens were often used for other purposes, e.g. B. as a manhole cover on cesspools or weather protection roofs on chimneys (because of their heavy weight they did not have to be fixed there). Due to the frequent secondary use, they were preserved and were soon sought after by collectors , and they are still popular on the antique market today . They are often confused with take plates or firebacks , but at least the side plates of a stove can be easily distinguished by their undecorated side edge (which was located in the wall). Bottom and cover panels are rarely found in collections because they are not particularly decorative. Oven plates are now also cast by various foundries, but collectors should be careful here because they are unfortunately often sold as originals.
museum
In the Heinrich Blickle Museum in Rosenfeld and in the Folklore and Open-Air Museum Roscheider Hof , stove plates from different centuries are on display.
literature
- Karl Heinz von den Driesch: Handbook of the stove, fireplace and Taken plates in the Rhineland (= work and living. Folklore studies in the Rhineland, Volume 17), Cologne 1990