A Unique Balustrade with a Scorpion (BA31)

BA31 is bold: a traditional blacksmith pattern runs up the stair, and at the bottom a metal scorpion serves as the starting baluster, its tail curling up to meet the wooden handrail.

Like all our stair railings, it is custom-made for the exact stairs it will sit on.

The scorpion as the starting post

On BA31 the first baluster is not a post but a sculpture. A forged scorpion stands at the foot of the stair, its claws on the floor and its segmented tail curling upwards until it meets the wooden handrail. Because the scorpion carries the start of the rail, it was designed as part of the structure from the beginning, not welded on afterwards.

Above it, the rest of the railing follows a traditional blacksmith pattern of spirals, drawn more calmly so that the sculpture keeps all the attention.

Strong enough to lean on

A starting post has to take the push and pull of everyone who grabs the rail at the bottom of the stair. The scorpion is therefore made from solid sections, anchored to the floor with a hidden plate and tied into the first span of the railing. It looks sculptural, but it works as hard as a plain newel post.

Your own motif

The scorpion was the client’s idea, and the same approach works with any animal or emblem: a dragon, a lion, a heron or a zodiac sign. We model the sculpture first, agree its size against the stair and only then forge it. More ideas of this kind can be seen among our sculpted railings.