Editing Art Nouveau (section)

===Metal art===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="200px">
File:Paris 16 - Castel Béranger -10.JPG|[[Wrought iron]] balcony of [[Castel Béranger]] in [[Paris]], by [[Hector Guimard]] (1897–98)
File:Fernand dubois, candelabro tulipani, 1899 ca., bronzo argentato.jpg|Tulip candelabra by Fernand Dubois (1899)
File:Baluster from the Schlesinger and Mayer Store (later Carson Pirie Scott), by George Grant Elmslie, 1899-1904, cast iron - Chazen Museum of Art - DSC02458.JPG|Cast iron Baluster by [[George Grant Elmslie]] (1899–1904)
File:Chocoladekan met roerstok Chocoladekan met handvat van ivoor, BK-1976-17-A.jpg|Chocolate pot with a molinet (stirring rod) by [[Lucien Bonvallet]] made of silver, ivory and palmwood ({{circa|1900}})
File:Teapot, by Alphonse Debain, from Paris, 1900, gilt silver and ivory, inv. 2021.63.1 MAD Paris.jpg|Teapot by Alphonse Debain made of gilt silver and ivory (1900)
File:MBAM Guimard - Grille d'une entrée de métro de Paris.jpg|[[Paris Métro]] balustrade plaque by Guimard (1900)
File:Tischlampe Schleiertänzerin BNM.jpg|Table Lamp by [[François-Raoul Larche]] in [[gilt bronze]], with the dancer [[Loïe Fuller]] as model (1901)
File:Bruxelles Maison Saint-Cyr Fenster 2.jpg|Wrought iron balconies of the [[Saint-Cyr House]] in [[Brussels]], by [[Gustave Strauven]] (1901–1903)
File:Victor horta, applique a due bracci per lampadine elettriche, 1903 ca.JPG|Light fixture by [[Victor Horta]] (1903)
File:Friedrich-Adler-2.jpg|Lamp by German architect [[Friedrich Adler (artist)|Friedrich Adler]] (1903–04)
File:Ernst riegel, coppa con piede, germania 1905 ca., argento e malachite.JPG|Lamp by Ernst Riegel made of silver and [[malachite]] (1905)
File:Portail de la Villa Knopf (34633284432).jpg|Gate of Villa Knopf in [[Strasbourg]], France (1905)
File:Bat goblet, by Henri Husson, A.A Hébrard House seller, from Paris, circa 1909, embossed and hammered copper, gold and silver applications, inv. 15961 MAD Paris.jpg|Bat goblet by [[Henri Husson]] made of embossed and hammered copper, gold and silver applications ({{circa|1909}})
File:Hauptstraße 11, Berlin-Schöneberg, Bild 2.jpg|Door detail of Hauptstraße no. 11 in [[Berlin]] (unknown date)
</gallery>

The 19th-century architectural theorist [[Viollet-le-Duc]] had advocated showing, rather than concealing the iron frameworks of modern buildings, but Art Nouveau architects [[Victor Horta]] and [[Hector Guimard]] went a step further: they added iron decoration in curves inspired by floral and vegetal forms both in the interiors and exteriors of their buildings. They took the form of stairway railings in the interior, light fixtures, and other details in the interior, and balconies and other ornaments on the exterior. These became some of the most distinctive features of Art Nouveau architecture. The use of metal decoration in vegetal forms soon also appeared in silverware, lamps, and other decorative items.{{Sfn|Riley|2004|p=322}}

In the United States, the designer [[George Grant Elmslie]] made extremely intricate cast iron designs for the balustrades and other interior decoration of the buildings of Chicago architect [[Louis Sullivan]].

While French and American designers used floral and vegetal forms, [[Joseph Maria Olbrich]] and the other Secession artists designed teapots and other metal objects in a more geometric and sober style.{{Sfn|Riley|2004|p=324}}