Morris L. Hallowell IV -  Architectural Ironwork

                                               Brief Bio of Morris Hallowell

Morris Longstreth Hallowell IV was born in 1949 of old New England stock, descending from five of the only twenty-two Mayflower passengers who bore surviving children. My father (Middlesex School and Harvard) and my mother (Concord Academy and Vassar) met in Concord, Massachusetts just after the war, where both their parents lived, and where Morris was subsequently born. I grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut.

I was graduated from Greenwich High School, hold a BA in English Literature from Colgate University, and an MBA from Boston University.

After finishing school, I managed retail stores for Design Research in Westport, Connecticut, San Francisco and Philadelphia.  D|R was an offshoot of Walter Gropius' and Ben Thompson's, The Architect's Collaborative, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It sold furniture, fabrics, clothing, kitchen and dining room gear complementing the contemporary Bauhaus-style houses being designed by TAC.

From 1977 until 1983, I was president of Aston Martin of North America Inc., the English carmaker's US subsidiary for importation and distribution; establishing and maintaining a dealer organization as well as parts distribution, service training, P/R and marketing.

In 1983, a change of ownership of the Aston Martin factory suggested a conversion of my longtime interest in fine guns into an actual business. I formed Hallowell & Co. in Greenwich, Connecticut, next door to the former headquarters of Aston Martin in the USA, dealing in fine sporting guns and rifles.

In 1991, I married Ann Ballard, a fine lady of many mutual interests, including being a customer in the gun store. While I did not know immediately, was born in the same hospital in Concord, Massachusetts.

A deteriorating political climate and increased hostility to the firearms business in Connecticut prompted a move to Montana in 1999. I sold the Greenwich building to respected gunmakers and dealers, Griffin & Howe. They continued to operate a gun business from those premises until, in 2014 the same cause, magnified, forced their withdrawal from Connecticut as well. Our old building is now a parking lot for the Ferrari dealer next door.

But, Montana is wonderful.

In the year 2000, my wife dragged me to what she heard was to be an open house in a blacksmith's shop in Bozeman. She wanted to learn how to adjust a small oxy/acetelyne torch for some jewelry work she was interested in. She asked me if I wanted t come along. I said no, I wasn't interested in no jewelry. She put on a little pressure and I succumbed. We walked into a largish metal building with fires roaring, power hammers pounding, welding sparks flying, people using machines I had never seen before, cacaphonic noise, and a dozen people, their faces completely smudged with black streaks---and smiling ear-to-ear. I was hooked. It turned out, the proprietor was an orthopaedic surgeon who had given up his practice because of  his facination with forging ironwork. He ended up being my mentor. We took classes, went to blackmithing conferences, worked together and we both learned. After two modest attempts at a shop, I built the current version in 2004. See Photos.

After a lifetime of selling things other people have made---even though often of the very highest quality---it is not the same thing as actually to craft something oneself. Blacksmithing, unlike thoracic surgery or even traditional gunmaking does not require extensive training before one can even begin. I do not have the time left for another apprenticeship. Anyone can produce a coat hook on his first day in the blacksmith shop. But, then, one can spend a lifetime getting better. I will never have the microscopic skill of Rudolf Kornbrath or Monte Mandarino. But, I can learn to hold my own in the somewhat coarser world of blacksmithing. We use rules calibrated in eights; eyecrometers---not micrometers. It is emmensely satisfying to harness intense heat and force to form solid steel into the vision of your mind.

A few of my extracurricular interests, apart from blacksmithing, revolve around music from 1705 - 1849, piano, audio, literature, history, American landscape painting, food and wine, skiing, riding, photography and fine sporting guns.

To fulfill your concept, made especially for you, takes time. If you are considering some custom hardware for a project you are undertaking, please consider ordering it in parallel with your project rather than waiting until you are ready to install. If you can order it enough in advance, it will be far more likely that it will be ready for you when you are ready for it.

Furniture       Door and Cabinet Hardware        Other Hardware       Door Knockers       Fireplace Gear      Candlesticks       Handrails       Lighting

Photos of the Studio       Basic Blacksmithing Processes        NRBA - Northern Rockies Blacksmith Association         Home

Morris L. Hallowell IV - Architectural Ironwork

PO Box 1445, Livingston, MT 59047        Tel: 406 222-4770       Fax: 406 222-4792         Email: morris@hallowellco.com

Please see also my other site:   Hallowell & Co. Fine Sporting Guns