Pyrography is an art where one burns a design into wood or materials using a pencil like or (poker) object. It is also called pokerwork or wood burning. Leather is often used as well. This process was very popular in the Victorian era and also the Art Noveau area. It is common to see decorated boxes with this type of wood burning. Hand made "glove boxes" are found from the 1930s. The designs can range from flowers, to words or whatever the particular artist would like to design. A coloring method even began to be used. The history of pyrography dates way back to the dawn of recorded history! You can find a greater in depth history and information from Wikipedia at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrography.
Flemish Art Company
The Flemish Art Company became synonymous with the word pyrography because it became so popular in the late 1800's and the early 1900's. Look how big this building was. Look how many people worked there! You can find several pieces of Flemish Art Co products in antique shops and flea markets today. There are various degress of pyrography that you will find. As you can see in one of the pictures shared below, these pieces were hand crafted. Amazing to have such mass produced pieces be hand crafted!
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| Flemish Art Co. Factory, Brooklyn, New York |
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| Flemish Art Co. Factory, Brooklyn, New York |
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Tour of the Flemish Art Co. Factory,
Brooklyn, New York
Adapted from a FLEM-AR-CO Catalogue, circa 1915 |
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| Glove boxes were very popular during the early 1900s |
