View allAll Photos Tagged MEXICAN_ONYX
Built in 1851-1870, this Gothic Revival-style church was designed by Richard Upjohn, and rebuilt with a stone interior to replace the original wooden interior following a fire in 1888 under the direction of Robert W. Gibson, with reconstruction being completed in 1890. The building is clad in Medina Sandstone with two sandstone spires topped with crosses, the taller of which sits atop the main tower and belfry of the church and is among the tallest unreinforced masonry spires in the world. The rest of the building features slate gabled roofs, with gable parapets at the ends. The church features stained glass lancet windows, with the larger windows featuring tracery, an octagonal western tower and a square eastern tower, buttresses, an irregular footprint, pinnacles, and gothic arched entrance doors. The church’s interior features slate and marble mosaic tile flooring, a Mexican Onyx altar, and ornately carved oak furnishings, hammer beam vaulted ceilings, columns supporting gothic arches, with the smaller Richmond Chapel featuring a hammer beam ceiling with painted panels, a decorative oak screen between the chapel and the nave of the main sanctuary, and decorative chandeliers. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1987, due to its historical and architectural significance. The building continues to serve as the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Buffalo, and is a very well preserved example of 19th Century Gothic Revival architecture.
Built in 1851-1870, this Gothic Revival-style church was designed by Richard Upjohn, and rebuilt with a stone interior to replace the original wooden interior following a fire in 1888 under the direction of Robert W. Gibson, with reconstruction being completed in 1890. The building is clad in Medina Sandstone with two sandstone spires topped with crosses, the taller of which sits atop the main tower and belfry of the church and is among the tallest unreinforced masonry spires in the world. The rest of the building features slate gabled roofs, with gable parapets at the ends. The church features stained glass lancet windows, with the larger windows featuring tracery, an octagonal western tower and a square eastern tower, buttresses, an irregular footprint, pinnacles, and gothic arched entrance doors. The church’s interior features slate and marble mosaic tile flooring, a Mexican Onyx altar, and ornately carved oak furnishings, hammer beam vaulted ceilings, columns supporting gothic arches, with the smaller Richmond Chapel featuring a hammer beam ceiling with painted panels, a decorative oak screen between the chapel and the nave of the main sanctuary, and decorative chandeliers. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1987, due to its historical and architectural significance. The building continues to serve as the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Buffalo, and is a very well preserved example of 19th Century Gothic Revival architecture.
The Drawing Room, which was finished in a colonial style, still has mahogany floors under the carpet. Originally the ceiling was decorated with white clouds and painted scrolls. The windows have Bavarian stained glass windows at the top. The fireplace is Mexican Onyx and has two men fighting in the fire box. All the rooms on the east side of the house contain double sliding doors which recess into the walls, and all three rooms open into each other as well as the Grand/Reception hall. From Self-Guided Tour information.
The pulpit is of St Bee's Sandstone, with various marble and Mexican onyx embellishments; the carvings are of Bishop's heads and other faces, along with the sign of rippling water. The emblems of the four Evangelists, St Columba, St Mungo [with tehe tree, the bird and the bell], and the Hand of God are in the lower row.
The pulpit is of St Bee's Sandstone, with various marble and Mexican onyx embellishments; the carvings are of Bishop's heads and other faces, along with the sign of rippling water. The emblems of the four Evangelists, St Columba, St Mungo [with tehe tree, the bird and the bell], and the Hand of God are in the lower row.
The pulpit is of St Bee's Sandstone, with various marble and Mexican onyx embellishments; the carvings are of Bishop's heads and other faces, along with the sign of rippling water. The emblems of the four Evangelists, St Columba, St Mungo [with tehe tree, the bird and the bell], and the Hand of God are in the lower row.
Mexican onyx font standing on rougue jasper columns on alabaster base. Painted ceiling and glass mosaic floor. Windows laced with symbolism; a crown and olive branch, a peacock, three fish, a shield with a lily and an anchor and lamp.
...an artful bust created from iron, seen at Eclectic Art Gallery in Oak Bay
a Mexican onyx lamp in the background
...the valentine heart's afire version!
This photo, like the Part 16 image, was taken from the mezzanine at the rear of the original bank building.
Looking at the interior of the northwestern elevation.
The folks at the bank have turned the aforementioned mezzanine into a wonderful historical exhibit that features plans, documents, and examples of the American Terra Cotta that adorns the exterior.
My focus in this shot is the superb set of stained-glass windows with their typically Sullivanian forms. Aquamarine is not a color one associates with the Wisconsin countryside, but it works here beautifully as the windows' general tinting.
Despite their dependence on tight, rectilinear symmetries, the window figures are clearly a species of the architect's botanical structures. These often feature a vertical axis (the stem or rachis) surmounted by a flower bud or fruit that in turn often has objects extending from it. See, for example, the terra-cotta ornamentation on the outer side of this same wall.
What I find so interesting is the large roundels that represent the seeds in the inner sanctum of each structure (the germ in SullivanSpeak).
As der lieber Meister himself wrote in his valedictory A System of Architectural Ornament,
The Germ is the real thing; the seat of identity. Within its delicate mechanism lies the will to power: the function which is to seek and eventually to find its full expression in form.
But note that those disks are made of a wildly patterned material that is more than a little reminiscent of the Mexican Onyx Travertine he'd used in the lobby of Chicago's Auditorium Building thirty years before. I assume that it is in fact stained glass, too. Regardless, it represents a vital core of chaos, almost like the convection currents of the Sun, in the midst of so much rigidly controlled predictability.
One can analyze the symbolism of such things ad infinitum, even though it may be that Sullivan was simply working with whatever materials were available at the time. All I really know is that I find it striking and thought-provoking. Whether the effect was produced by conscious design or mere happenstance hardly matters. It works.
The other photos and descriptions of this series can be found in my Geology & Botany of the Sullivan Jewel Boxes album.
Built in 1851-1870, this Gothic Revival-style church was designed by Richard Upjohn, and rebuilt with a stone interior to replace the original wooden interior following a fire in 1888 under the direction of Robert W. Gibson, with reconstruction being completed in 1890. The building is clad in Medina Sandstone with two sandstone spires topped with crosses, the taller of which sits atop the main tower and belfry of the church and is among the tallest unreinforced masonry spires in the world. The rest of the building features slate gabled roofs, with gable parapets at the ends. The church features stained glass lancet windows, with the larger windows featuring tracery, an octagonal western tower and a square eastern tower, buttresses, an irregular footprint, pinnacles, and gothic arched entrance doors. The church’s interior features slate and marble mosaic tile flooring, a Mexican Onyx altar, and ornately carved oak furnishings, hammer beam vaulted ceilings, columns supporting gothic arches, with the smaller Richmond Chapel featuring a hammer beam ceiling with painted panels, a decorative oak screen between the chapel and the nave of the main sanctuary, and decorative chandeliers. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and was listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1987, due to its historical and architectural significance. The building continues to serve as the seat of the Episcopal Diocese of Buffalo, and is a very well preserved example of 19th Century Gothic Revival architecture.
The pulpit is of St Bee's Sandstone, with various marble and Mexican onyx embellishments; the carvings are of Bishop's heads and other faces, along with the sign of rippling water. The emblems of the four Evangelists, St Columba, St Mungo [with tehe tree, the bird and the bell], and the Hand of God are in the lower row.
The pulpit is of St Bee's Sandstone, with various marble and Mexican onyx embellishments; the carvings are of Bishop's heads and other faces, along with the sign of rippling water. The emblems of the four Evangelists, St Columba, St Mungo [with tehe tree, the bird and the bell], and the Hand of God are in the lower row.
The light fixtures are all designed by Pei, unique to the Meyerson, and the shades are made of Mexican onyx.
The pulpit is of St Bee's Sandstone, with various marble and Mexican onyx embellishments; the carvings are of Bishop's heads and other faces, along with the sign of rippling water. The emblems of the four Evangelists, St Columba, St Mungo [with tehe tree, the bird and the bell], and the Hand of God are in the lower row.
The pulpit is of St Bee's Sandstone, with various marble and Mexican onyx embellishments; the carvings are of Bishop's heads and other faces, along with the sign of rippling water. The emblems of the four Evangelists, St Columba, St Mungo [with tehe tree, the bird and the bell], and the Hand of God are in the lower row.
....an artful bust created from iron, seen at Eclectic Art Gallery in Oak Bay
a Mexican onyx lamp in the background