FENDER, a metal guard or defence as for a motor car or fire place. In the latter instance when the open hearth with its logs burning upon fire-dogs or andirons (qq.v.) 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 cin ders 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 i8th and the earlier part of the centuries are by far the most ele gant and artistic. They usually had three claw feet, and the pierced varieties were often cut into arabesques or conventional patterns. The modern fender is much lower and is often little more than a curb.