French Door Knockers
Door knockers found on the front doors of homes in the south of France are common fixtures. In the French language a door knocker is " les heurtoirs". The first knockers or heurtois were small hammers hanging outside the closed front door. A visitor would just use the hammer and bang it against the door. As I walked through villages in Provence and looked at these old homes, I didn't find any hammers, however, I found many different shapes of door knockers; a small hand holding a ball, some kind of animal or fish while some are just a ring and a plate.
The ones I really like are the small hand holding a ball. The visitor lifts the hand which pivots at the wrist and the ball strikes a plate attached to the door. The hand is either in cast iron or brass, painted or unpainted, and each one holding a ball. This type of door knocker probably came from the middle east. There are two legends about the "five fingers and hand". One is that it represents the hand of Fatima, an Islamic symbol to ward off the "evil eye". The number "5" (the hand has five fingers" has mystical powers over evil and keeps evil away. The hand represents the hand from the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, Fatima Zahra. It is believed by some she had these anti-evil magical powers. Not to be outdone, the Jewish legend on this is that the hand is the hand of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, who also has anti-evil powers. Both legends regard the hand and five fingers to have powers to "keep evil away". The visitor lifts the hand and the ball strikes the metal plate on the door. Rest assured that anyone in the house will know someone is at the front door.
Other door knockers have lion's heads, fish heads, ornate rings, and some have gargoyles, while others just have a traditional lucky charm, "horseshoe" as the moving knocker. Whatever the shape or form of the door knocker, I photographed it. There are even two "door bells" (pre-electric type).
Read MoreThe ones I really like are the small hand holding a ball. The visitor lifts the hand which pivots at the wrist and the ball strikes a plate attached to the door. The hand is either in cast iron or brass, painted or unpainted, and each one holding a ball. This type of door knocker probably came from the middle east. There are two legends about the "five fingers and hand". One is that it represents the hand of Fatima, an Islamic symbol to ward off the "evil eye". The number "5" (the hand has five fingers" has mystical powers over evil and keeps evil away. The hand represents the hand from the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, Fatima Zahra. It is believed by some she had these anti-evil magical powers. Not to be outdone, the Jewish legend on this is that the hand is the hand of Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron, who also has anti-evil powers. Both legends regard the hand and five fingers to have powers to "keep evil away". The visitor lifts the hand and the ball strikes the metal plate on the door. Rest assured that anyone in the house will know someone is at the front door.
Other door knockers have lion's heads, fish heads, ornate rings, and some have gargoyles, while others just have a traditional lucky charm, "horseshoe" as the moving knocker. Whatever the shape or form of the door knocker, I photographed it. There are even two "door bells" (pre-electric type).
