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Fire screen

This fire screen, adorned with two dragons, belongs to one of the 73 iron fireplace sets found throughout Centre Block on Parliament Hill. Most of the building had to be rebuilt following a fire in 1916 and the project’s chief architect commissioned a renowned Montréal craftsman, Paul Beau, to create the hand-wrought ironwork for the Centre Block that Canadians know today. 

Mr. Beau and his team designed and crafted a variety of ornamental iron fixtures, including hand-wrought railings, balconies and fireplace sets — making Centre Block truly one of a kind.

For every fireplace set, the workshop forged a screen, fender, basket and poker, as well as a pair of both andirons and tongs. The craftsmen decorated the items with symbols of Canada and the country’s European heritage, including maple leaves, English roses, French fleur-de-lis, Scottish thistles and Irish shamrocks. The most intricately decorated artefacts were installed in special rooms. 

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