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Garden Benches; 2, White House pattern; patented in England in 1848; mid-late 19th century; sold for $1,528. Photo courtesy of Garth's.
I grew up in the inner city of Pittsburgh where backyards were no bigger than parking spaces. I played in the streets sliding into home plate and diving for badminton birdies while dodging cars.
Just a few hundred yards away on the other side of a huge stone wall was St Mary’s, one of the oldest cemeteries in the city.
My neighborhood and the cemetery were two distinct worlds sitting side-by-side like old friends.
When I climbed over the cemetery wall and jumped down to the soft ground below I discovered more manicured grass and more tree-lined walkways than I could fathom. The smell alone was heavenly.
I understood what “rest in peace” meant sitting on a rusted cast iron bench next to the tombstones and mausoleums.
Everywhere I looked there were garden urns filled with red geraniums and multi-colored petunias. Next to each urn sat fancy Victorian wrought-iron garden benches. These iron seats with their floral aprons and vine-encrusted arm supports looked like something out of a storybook.
The moss-covered marble fountains scattered throughout the cemetery weathered like fine sliver. If ever there was a landscape to sit in solitude, this was it.
It was a perfect place for the living and it housed the dead.
"Only a place with a heart and soul could make for its dead a more magnificent park than any which exists for the living,” someone once said. That was so true of St. Mary’s Cemetery.
In the mid-19th century cemeteries were criticized for not providing spaces like this for mourners to sit and grieve.
Cast iron was the perfect medium for these park-like cemeteries. Sturdy, weatherproof, affordable and yielding, cast iron could easily be molded into tiered-fountains and giant mourning lions common to the tops of tombs.
The opening of Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass., in 1831 served as a model of landscaping for later cemeteries like St Mary’s. Housed on 175 lush acres with 5,500 trees, thousands of flowers, marble fountains, and cast-iron urns, Mount Auburn Cemetery looks like an enchanted forest.
The founders believed burying the dead was best done in a peaceful, natural setting. They also believed the cemetery should be full of ornamental plantings, monuments, fences and fountains.
The first public parks were birthed out of cemeteries like Mt. Auburn.
Garden statuary falls within the category of architectural antiques. The field includes garden furniture, ornaments, sculpture as well as fire surrounds, old doors, roof finials and stone columns.
Condition takes on less importance in collecting garden statuary. A chipped nose or a damaged handle is not unusual and collectors expect to see it. In terms of value, marble statuary seems to be the most desirable followed by bronze, lead and cast iron.
Most collectors are looking for several special pieces for that special spot in the garden. For the beginning collector, the brand new cement ornaments found in garden shops will never have much value.
On July 25 & 26, Garth’s Auctioneers & Appraisers in Delaware, Ohio, offered a selection of garden urns, stands and seating in its auction. Here are some current values.
Cast Iron Statuary
Garden Stand; detailed with foliate base supporting ribbed and fluted pole and shallow bowl; $235.
Garden Urns; 2; classic bulbous ribbed with flaring egg and dart rims on square base; $647.
Birdbath; with pair of doves perched on edge; shallow bowl, urn column and rose filigree base; $764.
Garden Urns; two-piece; lion head handles; floral banding; separate square base with floral swag decoration; $823.
Garden Benches; 2, White House pattern; patented in England in 1848; mid-late 19th century; $1,528.
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