John Salterini

Salterini came from Italy to New York, worked in journalism and then glass, and entered wrought iron as a partner in Salterini and Gallo before founding his own firm in Brooklyn in 1934. His argument was that garden furniture had no reason to be cruder than what was inside the house, and the catalogues were detailed accordingly, with scrolled arms, hammered surfaces and proper cushions.

He hired outside designers. Maurizio Tempestini produced the modernist lines the market now chases, among them Radar, Ribbon, Clamshell and Mt. Vernon. Mario Papperzini designed the Amalfi group. Salterini himself died in 1952 and the firm stopped around 1953.

Hand-forged iron of this age is rusted somewhere and usually repainted several times over. Sound welds and unbent frames matter considerably more than the finish, which can be redone.