The Mallard Andirons are a pair of antique brass andirons.
Description[]
Part of Mallard Mansion's furnishing, these two 1883 Piggot andirons (which had, by 1976, become collector's pieces of their own by 1976, of about 400 hundred dollars in value as a set) rose to fame when Mallard concealed a map to the Mallard Treasure inside one of them.
After Mallard's death, Scrooge McDuck, having learned that a map to the treasure was hidden somewhere in the Mansion, bought the house and had in torn down bit by bit. However, he missed one of the andirons, which remained in the wreckage of the torn-down Mansion, only to be found there by Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck in 1976.
Unknowing of its true value, the triplets sold the Andiron for two dollars to a Junkman, who in turn sold it to a Duckburg Antiques Shop on Elm Street. Donald Duck bought it back from it for a hefty sum, under the mistaken belief that it was the twin of Huey, Dewey and Louie's one, and, thus, that buying it would mean he owned the set and could sell it for even more. Realizing his mistake, Donald attempted to bury the useless andiron, so that Scrooge (from whom he had borrowed the money to buy the andiron) would not learn of his bad investment.
Just in the nick of time, however, Scrooge reached Donald and found the map inside the (hollow) leg of the andiron. He thanked Donald profusely and subsequently acquired the Treasure. He later presumably kept the Andiron in his Trophy Room
Behind the scenes[]
The Mallard Andirons are the central macguffins of the 1976 story Key to the Treasure.