Ornament from the Scoville Building, Chicago
Louis Henry Sullivan American
Probably modeled by Kristian Schneider American
This terracotta fragment comes from the Scoville Building which was designed by Louis Sullivan, one of the founders of modern architecture and the foremost figure in the group of architects known as the Chicago School. The Scoville Building was erected in 1884 at 619-631 West Washington Street in Chicago. The building is no longer standing. One of three sets of fragments with 1974.215.1a–c and .3a–v in the Museum's collection, this blind, semi-circular window arch consists of three keystone-shaped pieces and a smaller, semi-circular, fluted shell piece. The keystone-shaped pieces are decorated with foliate designs. These terracotta fragments, together with the cast iron panel from the Rothschild Store, 1973.289, represent the early work of Sullivan and provide an interesting contrast with the more fully developed and elaborate style of his later career. For an example of his later style, see the pair of staircases from the Chicago Stock Exchange, 1972.50.1–.4.
