Sketch in Iron

Born in Poland, Samuel Yellin immigrated to Philadelphia in 1906. In 1910, he built the Arch Street Metalworker’s Studio, which quickly grew to employ over 200 craftsmen by the 1920s. Yellin was widely considered the greatest ironworker in the United States during his career. He created architectural elements that graced private and public buildings around the country as well as smaller pieces, such as decorative boxes. Like many other artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Yellin promoted handcraftsmanship, unique designs, and emphasized the aesthetic properties of the raw material of iron. Yellin created unique design sketches in iron in the early 1930s when business slowed down due to the Great Depression. Working from drawings, his iron sketches were full-sized designs with ornamental detail allowing him and his employees to hone their skills.