KNOCK KNOCK (caption essay to accompany a photo layout)
by Anita Rafael
The invention of electric doorbells should have rendered old-fashioned door knockers obsolete, just like the automobile replaced the horse and buggy. Yet for some nostalgic reason, decorative door knockers are everywhere, suggesting that today’s homeowners are convinced that every door deserves its own personality. More like a domestic talisman, knockers are amusing, expressive, eye-catching, curious, and in some cases, aesthetically ordinary.
History has failed to record when knockers were invented (safe to say, it was with the advent of doors!), but in all probability the first ones were hand wrought, shaped in iron by blacksmiths, and later ones were mass-produced by casting the motel metal in molds.In colonial times, any door hardware in brass or bronze was a status symbol among the affluent; the bigger the brasses, the brighter the polish, the richer the owners. To this day, brass and bronze are the preferred materials, although most seem to be left unpolished now, allowed age to a fine patina in Newport’s salty air. Visitors at your door can gently tap, or heartily rap, even musically rat-tat-tat your door knocker, and wonder: Does this door knocker mean something? Centuries ago, door knockers might have told a story, like a trade sign. Door knockers in the shape of a hand with a lace around the wrist, for example, were the emblem of Huguenot silk-weavers in old London. Houses by the sea are apt to have a door knocker with a maritime theme. Horseshoes symbolize good fortune, and, make note, whether used as a door knocker or not, should always have the ends pointing up so that the luck will not drain out. Animals can have different meanings depending on the culture: a dolphin for hospitality or joy; a lion for courage; a boar for a warrior; a horse for power; a dove for peace; a dog for loyalty.
Can you think of a college that was named for a door knocker? At OxfordUniversity in the U.K, one of the oldest colleges is called Brasenose. It refersto a brass (“brase” in the old English spelling) door knocker in the shape of a nose, perhaps dating to the 12th century.
Final question: Is the pineapple the quintessential Newport door knocker? Official answer! Take a stroll up and down Newport’s historic streets, check out all the door décor, and decide for yourself.
