earlier this week i was fortunate to acquire architectural artifacts from a notable chicago building (demolished), where only a full-figured cast bronze statue depicting christopher columbus was thought to be the only widely known building element to be saved. the artifacts i purchased are on a much smaller scale, but shed some light on the design elements used in the buildings interior. several original early electric double-arm wall sconces and an assortment of builders hardware not only were saved from the wrecking ball that brought down the columbus memorial building in 1953, but in addition, each and every fixture managed to escape tasteless modifications and layers of paint, which is truly rare to find. so in other words, and quite remarkably, the brass and bronze fixtures depicted here in this post retain the original copper-plated finish (darkened over time) applied at the time of installation in 1893. the richly ornate double arm electric wall sconces are comprised of brass and bronze components, with bent tubular arms accentuated with beaded and faceted spear-shaped finials. the protruding base supporting the arms features a similar downward pointing finial, with a crown on the very top and a centrally located fanciful embossed letter c. the oversized backplate contains a well-designed depiction of the christopher columbus coat of arms, with rearing lions and a crenelated castle. the original copper-plated finish remains largely intact on nearly all of the interior building wall sconce saved. the exact fabricator is not known. the buildings door hardware, consisting of backplates, a single mortise lock, doorknobs and a hinge were designed and fabricated by the yale & towne mfg. company, specifically for the buildings interior office and passage doors. the unusually shaped and oversized backplates feature a repeating fleur-de-lis motif with floral embellishment along the edges. the banded rim doorknobs with uniquely shaped shanks contain lightly embossed rearing lions. the nicely aged surface patina on each and every hardware component was left untouched. the single door hinge with a loose pin and multiple well-maintained knuckles, contains two heavily ornamented leaves with a multitude of screw holes for mounting purposes. the floral motifs surrounding the screw holes are similar to those found on the backplates. the distinctive finials bearing a strong resemblance to a monarchs crown, are tapered and beaded. the plated treatment and/or design was patented by yale & towne long before the building was constructed. the non-extant columbus memorial building was a 15-story steel frame downtown chicago skyscraper designed at a time to capitalize on the columbian exposition or chicago worlds fair of 1893. the building turned out to be the very last commission for william w. boyington, who was a highly regarded chicago architect at the time. boyington earned a solid reputation for designing several buildings prior to the great chicago fire of 1871, which included the chicago water tower and pumping station (extant). however, most of his buildings constructed prior to 1871 were destroyed in the fire. the ornamented terra cotta and stone building featured large glass mosaics of the landing of columbus between the main entrance on state street. a nine-foot cast bronze statue was mounted upright in an alcove directly above the building entrance. the 240 foot tower contained an opalescent glass globe that was lit by incandescent lighting. continents on the globe were marked in color, with a large cut jewel used to pinpoint chicagos location. an in-depth or descriptive analysis of the interior is still a work in progress for me. with more time in the near future, i hope to locate any and all interior images of the building, along with information pertaining to the decorative treatments used throughout the lobby and office spaces, which were primarily as physician offices. the few artifacts presented here are likely just the tip of the iceberg, but whether anything equally or much more substantial dodged the wrecking ball or scrap yards remains undetermined. at the very least the moses ezekiel-designed statue of columbus was rescued shortly before demolition and later relocated to little italys arrigo park (formerly known as vernon park) in 1966.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 21:26:43 +0000