Samuel Yellin Gates

Local metalsmith Rodney C. Cash shares his thoughts below on the restoration of the Yellin gates.

Samuel Yellin’s career in America started in 1909 when he opened his first metalworking shop in Philadelphia and lasted until 1940. Yellin went on to become somewhat of a “rockstar” in the world of metalworking and blacksmithing. One story of how he would “wow” his clients was by striking a piece of iron so quickly and with such force that the friction created could light a client’s cigarette. His showmanship, along with an unequaled eye for design and superior quality, is how Yellin became one of the most celebrated and popular metalsmiths in American history.

In 1922, the Yellin shop received a job to design and build a pair of gates for the Candoro Marble Company in Knoxville, Tennessee. A front gate for the entranceway and an interior gate for the foyer leading inside. The original front door gates are still in existence and just needed restoration work; however, the internal gate had somehow just vanished, and no one could pinpoint what happened to it.

In 2019, restoration work began on the building to restore the marble carvings, the bronze window latches, the intricate ironwork, frescoes, and the grounds. Along with some other talented artisans, the Aslan Foundation recruited Derek White and his team at Bird on the Wire Studios, resident artist Sean “Mudd” Lundgren and me to contribute to the restoration project.