Large Antique Industrial Wooden Gear Molds, a Pair, Late 19th Century

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A large-scale, sculptural pair of antique industrial wooden foundry gears sourced from Angels Camp, a gold rush town in the … Read more A large-scale, sculptural pair of antique industrial wooden foundry gears sourced from Angels Camp, a gold rush town in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. Skilled patternmakers carved these highly detailed wooden shapes, detailing each cog with precision, so they could be pressed into tightly packed sand molds. Once removed, molten iron or steel was poured into the cavity to create a functional metal gear. The red and yellow paint on foundry patterns served as a universal coding system for workers, indicating specific instructions like which surfaces needed machining or where core boxes had to be placed.

Today, these artifacts serve as sculptural architectural salvage and primitive folk art statement pieces for a wide range of styles, from industrial to steampunk decor. These display well laying flat on a table, standing upright on a shelf, or add hardware of your choosing for wall application.

Large: 19" diameter x 6.5" deep
Small: 10.5" diameter x 7" deep See less