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SHUTTER HOLD OPENS & SHUTTER HOOKS

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Beech River Mill Builds Wooden Shutters, Blinds and Custom Doors that are Built on Tradition, Grounded in Craftsmanship and Engineered for Tomorrow - Since 1851

Shutter Hold-Opens

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603 Series Shutter Hooks

603 Series Shutter Hooks

Shutter Hold-Opens: Shutter Dogs

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801 Series English Rattail

Manufactured in England and imported to the American ports, countless variations of the pattern still grace the historic streets of Philadelphia, New York, and the other coastal cities. We’ve reproduced dozens of variants on this pattern and have seen twice that many others as well. I rolled together different elements from what I felt were the best early examples and came up with this pattern back in the early 80’s. It’s been used on quite a few national park service projects. It’s hand hammered from a 1” x ¼” bar and a very three dimensional example of nice forge work.
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802 Series w Soldier

The “Soldier Tieback”™ is another pattern with roots in Colonial America. It, too, has any number of surviving examples, each as different as its maker.

The name came from one of C. S. Forester’s novels wherein Captain Horatio Hornblower was pacing the streets of early 19th century London and noticed the shutter tiebacks “lined like a row of soldiers down the street”. I associate this pattern with the southern states – you see more of them south of the Mason-Dixon than north.

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803 Series Salem

The “Salem Tieback”™ is very typical of the work of early local smiths.

This piece was inspired by a sample from Salem, MA; the home dated 1740. The original was dainty in size – a reflection of the cost of early iron. We’ve kept this piece true to the original, same size, same simple lines, forged one by one from a bar of iron (actually steel today) to minimize the use of tongs and to utilize the heat in the bar from the piece just cut off.

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804 Series Beacon Hill

Our “Beacon Hill Tieback”™ takes its name from its home. This is about the only original tieback seen on Beacon Hill in Boston.

Early examples date from around 1800 and it’s advertised in hardware catalogues as late as 1889. I assumed it was local to Boston until I saw examples in Annapolis, Chestertown, and Charlestown, SC. As Boston as beans, this tieback apparently found its way on New England coastal trading vessels and spread along the Atlantic seaboard through the 1800’s. We forge this piece from a bar of ½” square steel. Made exactly the way the originals were, our Beacon Hill Tieback™ has the weight and three dimensionality of the early work – worlds nicer than the machine cut and “roughed up with a hammer” work that’s being imported and sold under the same name today.

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805 Series Belmont

Designed for a nice lady in Blue Bell, PA. She’d beautifully incorporated elements of an early mansion into a new home on the original site but couldn’t find tiebacks that would visually work on her larger Georgian shutters.

We combined some early elements to give this piece the width and visual bulk to balance with the size of her shutters. This is a nice forged piece with strong shadow lines and hammer texture, it has kind of a European feel. Available in various sizes, mild or stainless steel, straight or offset. I’m seeing copies of this piece and others from our original product line being sold on the internet. Many are now imported from India, Columbia, and China . Many are called “Belmont” or “English Rattail”…. those that I’ve seen range from weak to pathetic. None have anything close to the character of our originals. Many are such poor copies that they’ve destroyed the proportions. In general, the imported shutter hardware that I’ve seen represents cheap copies of something somebody mailed offshore or, even worse, something just seen on the internet. It’s made with no understanding of the intended function or evolution of the hardware. It often doesn’t work properly, isn’t adequately finished for exterior use, and just looks cheap – regardless of the price.

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807 Series The Charleston

A semi-hand forged piece from the late 1800’s and very common in Charleston. Based on an 18th century example in the same town.
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809 Series Savannah Gem

One of the few tiebacks I’ve seen that was designed exclusively as an offset. It’s a rather elegant piece with flowing lines and some nice forged detail. I believe it was offset just to put it up into your line of sight. The originals really dressed up a corner home in Charleston – just wish I’d found it in Savannah.
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810 Series Sweet Violet

I’ve seen this pattern on several properties built in the 1930’s. It’s nice with some bulk for visibility while its rolled tail adds three dimensionality. I see this piece as just right for bungalows.
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851 Series Plain “S”

This piece is typical of the stamped “S” tiebacks of the early/mid/late 1900’s. It’s plain, mild steel, powdercoated, and the least expensive tieback we make.
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853 Series McKinney “S”

853 Series McKinney “S”
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855 Series Floral “S”

You don’t see many forged “S” tiebacks because they’re tough to make at the anvil. Cookie-cut “S” tiebacks came into being around the 1920’s and are still very popular.

I decided that if I were an 18 th century smith and was going to the trouble to forge an “S”, I’d spend a little more time and add some detail. Flowers look nice around a house, so I added a Pennsylvania German stylized tulip as the terminations of the “S”. We cut this piece from 1/8” plate in mild or stainless steel. It isn’t really forged, but it’s not so plain and that’s where the pattern & name came from.

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856 Series Large Floral “S”

856 Series Large Floral “S”
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857 Series The Propeller

Again, a semi-forged piece. Stamped and rolled over the edge of the anvil. Available in 5, 6 & 7” heights. The smaller sizes common in Savannah. Inspired by an earlier forging.
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858 Series Med Propeller

Again, a semi-forged piece. Stamped and rolled over the edge of the anvil. Available in 5, 6 & 7” heights. The smaller sizes common in Savannah. Inspired by an earlier forging.
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859 Series Large Propeller

Again, a semi-forged piece. Stamped and rolled over the edge of the anvil. Available in 5, 6 & 7” heights. The smaller sizes common in Savannah. Inspired by an earlier forging.