FENDER  , a

metal guard or defence (whence the name) for a fire-place . When the open hearth with its logs burning upon dogs or andirons was replaced by the closed grate, the fender was devised as a finish to the smaller fire-places, and as a safeguard against the dropping of cinders upon the wooden floor, which was now much nearer to the fire . Fenders are usually of steel, brass or iron, solid or pierced . Those made of brass in the latter part of the 18th and the earlier part of the 19th centuries are by far the most elegant and artistic . They usually had three claw feet, and the pierced varieties were often cut into arabesques or conventional patterns . The lyre and other motives of the Empire style were much used during the prevalence of that fashion . The modern fender is much lower and is often little more than a kerb; it is now not infrequently of stone or marble, fixed to the floor .