Bellows; 1500-1600 Pair of Italian; ornately carved walnut and bronze bellows; made in the sixteenth century. Bellows were needed to pump air into the embers to coax the fire to life. Most of them were plain and ordinary objects. However; some bellows; especially from Italy and France were elaborately carved by master craftsmen. The deeply carved winged figures; together with the grotesque carvings of the satyr's head on the bellow's handles; were popular features on carvings in the second half of the 16th century. Social history; Wood