Door Knockers

Door knockers in literature

"I shall love it as long as I live. I scarcely ever looked at it before. What an honest expression it has in its face. It is a wonderful knocker." Ebenezer Scrooge in Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol". We can only hope that your door knockers can also be instruments of epiphanies for people who visit your house, as they were for Ebenezer Scrooge! Or at the least, a charming addition to your traditional or period style home

Door knockers are basic items that stop people getting sore knuckles when you are out the back and don’t hear them knocking on the door – a hinged weight is lifted and dropped to bang on a strike plate, allowing them to make a much louder noise, with less pain, than they can with with their knuckles alone.

The most popular designs of the door knockers:

There are thousands of different forms of the knockers these days. This is the most characteristic and personal part of your door furniture, so you should first choose the knocker, and then select a suitable knob, letter plate and so on. Traditional knockers are usually either plain or head-shaped, although modern knockers come in a much wider variety of designs.

There are two main groups of period style door knockers:

a plain knocker, which usually comes in an oval shape,
a head shaped knocker: there are examples of human, angels, medusas and dogs heads on knockers, but the lion’s head is definitely the most common and well-recognized.

In Georgian times door knockers were usually made of cast iron and painted black. In the late 19th century and early 20th century, nickel and chrome plating became very fashionable for door knockers - this trend is now back, with interior designers and architects often using nickel plated door knockers.

How to clean your door knocker:

If your door knocker is made of a solid brass, you will have to clean it every 1 month or so. The best way to clean brass is to wipe it with a soft cloth. To keep the knocker looking new you will also need a special brass polish which can be purchased on our website.

Interesting fact:

The world’s largest selections of old door knockers are now housed in Dublin and London. The most beautiful knocker in London can be found on the outdoor gate of the Duke of Devonshire’s house at Piccadilly - it is an angelic head with flowing hair. In Dublin the best selection of original door knockers can be found in the Georgian squares of Merrion and Fitzwilliam.

If you have a question about the door knockers in our range, or in general, feel free to contact us either via email or phone. We look forward to hearing from you!