{"id":13,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-04 22:10:23","latitude":41.51363874559999800339937792159616947174072265625,"longitude":-81.6592741012999994154597516171634197235107421875,"title":"Rose Iron Works","subtitle":"The Nation&#039;s Oldest Decorative Metalwork Company","fullsize":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-paul-feher-art-deco-screen-cma-3521996_f248b68887.jpg","address":"1536 E 43rd St, Cleveland, OH 44103","zoom":15,"creator":["Emma Yanoshik-Wing","James Calder","Mark Tebeau"],"description":"The Rose Iron Works, opened in 1904 on Cleveland&#039;s east side. The oldest continually-operating decorative metalwork company in the United States, it was founded by Martin Rose, a Hungarian immigrant who worked in Budapest and Vienna before moving to Cleveland. <br />\r\n<br />\r\nRose provided craft metalwork that adorned many of Cleveland&#039;s notable dwellings and buildings during the height of the city&#039;s growth. The works included fanciful dividing screens at Halle&#039;s as well as the decorative iron gates that guarded many of the Millionaires&#039; Row estates on Euclid Avenue. Informed by European ornamental Beaux-Arts architecture, Rose worked in the tradition of other craft ironworkers such as Samuel Yellin.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nEven as the market for ornamental ironwork began to decline as a result of changing styles and the Depression, Rose Iron Works thrived. During the 1930s, the Rose Iron Works produced some of the most notable Art Deco ironwork in the nation, including styling recognized internationally for their uniquely American characteristics.  <br />\r\n<br />\r\nThe company turned to the production of industrial products during World War II (an activity that now dominates its business) but it never forsook the craft and metalworking traditions of nineteenth-century Europe. ","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":null,"website":"<a href=\"http://roseironworks.com\">http://roseironworks.com</a>","related_resources":["Gibans, Nina Freedlander. <i>Creative Essence: Cleveland's Sense of Place</i>. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 2005.","Koplos, Janet, and Bruce Metcalf. <i>Makers: A History of American Studio Craft</i>. Asheville, NC: Center for Craft, Creativity, and Design, 2010."],"factoids":[],"files":{"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-paul-feher-art-deco-screen-cma-3521996_f248b68887.jpg":{"id":112,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Art Deco Screen (1930)","description":"Paul Feher&#039;s Art Deco Screen. Feher made this masterpiece while at Rose Iron Works in 1930.  It is in the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. | Cleveland Museum of Art","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/lg_rose-paul-feher-art-deco-screen-cma-3521996_f248b68887.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-martin-rose-crew_aa3342c4da.jpg":{"id":113,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Martin Rose and Crew, ca. 1910","description":"Image courtesy of Rose Iron Works","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/lg_rose-martin-rose-crew_aa3342c4da.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-anvil_75b8a8d680.jpg":{"id":114,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Anvil and Firing Stove","description":"Anvil and Firing Stove at Rose Iron Works, ca. 2005<br />\r\n<br />\r\nImage coutesy of Emma Yanoshik-Wing","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/lg_rose-anvil_75b8a8d680.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-craftsmanship_e65d0f52d6.jpg":{"id":115,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Rose Iron Works Foundry, ca. 2005","description":"Image coutesy of Emma Yanoshik-Wing","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/lg_rose-craftsmanship_e65d0f52d6.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-fixtures_856417c309.jpg":{"id":116,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Iron Fixtures, ca. 2005","description":"Image coutesy of Emma Yanoshik-Wing","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/lg_rose-fixtures_856417c309.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-foundry_68f7a839c4.jpg":{"id":117,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Interior, Rose Iron Works, ca. 2005","description":"Image coutesy of Emma Yanoshik-Wing","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/lg_rose-foundry_68f7a839c4.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-hammering_0ec1c63bdc.jpg":{"id":118,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Blacksmith With Anvil, ca. 2005","description":"A blacksmith with anvil and hammer at Rose Iron, ca. 2005.<br />\r\n<br />\r\nImage coutesy of Emma Yanoshik-Wing","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/lg_rose-hammering_0ec1c63bdc.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/lg_rose-mel-rose-design-table_f465262470.jpg":{"id":119,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Melvin Rose at Design Table, ca. 2005","description":"Image coutesy of Emma Yanoshik-Wing","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/lg_rose-mel-rose-design-table_f465262470.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/fullsize/97ffef60a4d34cd5c31597e1a59ffb57.jpg":{"id":5528,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"History of Ironworking","description":"Developed in the 1930s based on Martin Rose&#039;s recollections of his training in Vienna, this frieze tells the history of ironworking.  <br />\r\nImage courtesy Rose Iron Works.","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/97ffef60a4d34cd5c31597e1a59ffb57.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/roseiron-mel-rose-philosophy_mixdown_898d8d9ebe.mp3":{"id":120,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"The Philosophy of Mel Rose","description":"Melvin Rose explains his approach to design | Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/roseiron-mel-rose-art-deco-and-great-depression_mixdown_0ce83a08c4.mp3":{"id":121,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"Art Deco And The Great Depression","description":"Melvin Rose recalls his father&#039;s idea to bring a new style of ironwork design to Cleveland | Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/roseiron-mel-rose-mural-story_mixdown_0f65030bc9.mp3":{"id":122,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"A Mural Story","description":"Ironworker Melvin Rose recalls a work he struggled to complete as a young artisan | Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/671802eefff82e4980a280aa4df5047b.mp4":{"id":8418,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"&quot;Anything that can be drawn, can be done&quot;","description":"Mel Rose describes the company&#039;s design process and client services. | CSU Center for Public History + Digital Humanities","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/671802eefff82e4980a280aa4df5047b.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/7687de11d2aa7a213bb383d08886294f.mp4":{"id":8419,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"&quot;I don&#039;t have blood in my veins, I have rust&quot;","description":"Mel Rose describes how the family business is run. | CSU Center for Public History + Digital Humanities","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/7687de11d2aa7a213bb383d08886294f.jpg"},"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/original/cedc093964cff4cf39723383e7443efa.mp4":{"id":8420,"mime-type":"video/mp4","title":"Wartime &quot;Rube Goldbergs&quot;","description":"Mel Rose describes how the company survived the rationing of metals during World War II. | CSU Center for Public History + Digital Humanities","thumbnail":"https://clevelandhistorical.org/files/square_thumbnails/cedc093964cff4cf39723383e7443efa.jpg"}}}