Geology & Botany of the Sullivan Jewel Boxes, Part 10: An Axis of Abstract Acanthus | Farmers & Merchants Union Bank, Columbus, Wisconsin, USA (1919)
One section of the lintel that is the grandly decorated inscription-holder hovering over the bank's main, northeastern entrance. For a view of the entire lintel, see Part 8 of this set; for the whole facade, see Part 7.
With all due respect to the heraldic lion at top, which brandishes a shield emblazoned with "F AND M," the organic power of this vertical axis is primarily invested in its stretching tendrils of what I take to be rather abstractified acanthus leaves. Though I'm not sure that they're any more fanciful than those found in Classical or Renaissance buildings. Still, in architect Louis Sullivan's vision of plant anatomy there's often a certain dreamlike aspect where less fully developed forms effortless merge with more finely divided ones.
This particular design evokes those in Sullivan's A System of Natural Ornament, published in 1924, the year of his death. However, it is not identical to any one of them.
Of course, it is one thing for an architect to sketch the intended terra-cotta design in two dimensions and quite another for a modeler to faithfully realize its three-dimensional potential in clay. And the exquisite detail of each modular unit had to be molded at exactly the right size to fit all the others after it and they experienced shrinkage during the firing process.
Here, as in so many of Sullivan's projects, the crucial role of modeler was given, at the architect's insistence, to the supremely skilled sculptor Kristian Schneider, of the American Terra Cotta Company. The Norwegian-born Schneider was just one of many talented emigre artisans employed by this firm.
The American plant was located in what is now part of the town of Crystal Lake, Illinois, There, on its grounds, was an abundant supply of base material obtained from late-Pleistocene Lemont Formation glacial till. However, special "ball clays" were also imported from England for the glazing compounds.
The other photos and descriptions of this series can be found in my Geology & Botany of the Sullivan Jewel Boxes album.
Geology & Botany of the Sullivan Jewel Boxes, Part 10: An Axis of Abstract Acanthus | Farmers & Merchants Union Bank, Columbus, Wisconsin, USA (1919)
One section of the lintel that is the grandly decorated inscription-holder hovering over the bank's main, northeastern entrance. For a view of the entire lintel, see Part 8 of this set; for the whole facade, see Part 7.
With all due respect to the heraldic lion at top, which brandishes a shield emblazoned with "F AND M," the organic power of this vertical axis is primarily invested in its stretching tendrils of what I take to be rather abstractified acanthus leaves. Though I'm not sure that they're any more fanciful than those found in Classical or Renaissance buildings. Still, in architect Louis Sullivan's vision of plant anatomy there's often a certain dreamlike aspect where less fully developed forms effortless merge with more finely divided ones.
This particular design evokes those in Sullivan's A System of Natural Ornament, published in 1924, the year of his death. However, it is not identical to any one of them.
Of course, it is one thing for an architect to sketch the intended terra-cotta design in two dimensions and quite another for a modeler to faithfully realize its three-dimensional potential in clay. And the exquisite detail of each modular unit had to be molded at exactly the right size to fit all the others after it and they experienced shrinkage during the firing process.
Here, as in so many of Sullivan's projects, the crucial role of modeler was given, at the architect's insistence, to the supremely skilled sculptor Kristian Schneider, of the American Terra Cotta Company. The Norwegian-born Schneider was just one of many talented emigre artisans employed by this firm.
The American plant was located in what is now part of the town of Crystal Lake, Illinois, There, on its grounds, was an abundant supply of base material obtained from late-Pleistocene Lemont Formation glacial till. However, special "ball clays" were also imported from England for the glazing compounds.
The other photos and descriptions of this series can be found in my Geology & Botany of the Sullivan Jewel Boxes album.