Blacksmithing, weights and measures

BLACKSMITHING

An ore of excellent quality was extracted from the mines of Bielsa, whose entrances opened onto the harsh slopes of very high mountains. It was brought down to Bielsa, Javierre or Salinas, where the old forges standing beside the river produced highly valued iron. For many years, iron from Bielsa supplied the blacksmiths’ forges of Upper Aragon.

Every village, every hamlet and even isolated houses had a smithy. It was a dark place filled with mysterious lights and sounds: the rhythmic panting of the bellows, the forceful blows endured by the anvil, the sharp hiss of hot iron plunged into water, the small fierce flame of burning charcoal… The blacksmith reigned over this smoke-filled workshop.

There were many blacksmiths in Upper Aragon. They sharpened hoes and ploughshares; made axes, knives, hinges, bolts and nails; and shod working animals. Their skills made them essential to every community.

Some were highly creative and expressed their artistic impulse in the decoration of magnificent window catches and door knockers that embellished the sturdy doors of mountain houses.

TINPLATE

At the beginning of the 20th century, the arrival of tinplate simplified processes that had previously been highly specialised and expensive. Copper, for example, required coppersmiths to carry out laborious hammering, whereas the tinsmith could cut sheets, shape the pieces and then solder them.

Tinplate became common in many objects of everyday life. Simpler items —funnels, buckets and oil cans— were made by itinerant craftsmen who sold them from village to village. Containers used to measure liquids —vinegar, oil and wine— were a special case because they required greater precision and were therefore made in specialised workshops, such as those that existed in Barbastro, including Guatas’s workshop on Calle Mayor and Pardina’s in Plaza del Mercado.

During the 1950s, plastic began to take over. The mass arrival of industrially manufactured goods gradually pushed the tinsmith’s profession into oblivion.