Pair of Antique French Wooden and Iron Pitchforks

A pair of antique French pitchforks that have been displayed in the courtyard at Chanteduc, Patricia and Walter Wells's farmhouse in Vaison-la-Romaine, for decades. Part of their extensive collection of antique tools was photographed for page 297 of Patricia's The French Kitchen Cookbook. Both pitchforks have long wooden handles, silvered and richly grained with age, and forged-iron heads with tines that curve gently towards the tips. The metal has weathered to a warm, dark rust-brown patina, and each head is attached to a sturdy sleeve securing it to the handle. Leaned against a stone wall, propped in a barn doorway, or grouped with other antique tools in a garden corner, they bring exactly the kind of grounded, unself-conscious character that no reproduction can replicate. For anyone who shares Walter's appreciation for the sculptural quality of well-made working objects, these are a rare and genuinely evocative find.