Trim & Moulding · Victorian (Queen Anne, Eastlake)
Adler & Sullivan Cast-Iron Frieze Panel from the Rothschild Store (1881)
A tall cast-iron panel from the Rothschild Store in Chicago, designed by Adler & Sullivan in 1881, with a fan of stylized leaves rising from a central stem.
Design characteristics
This early Sullivan panel shows his ornament before it became densely interwoven: a symmetrical fan of leaves and buds grows from a central stem inside a simple frame. Its clarity makes it an easy motif to adapt. As a carved door panel, a pilaster face on a mantel, or the end panel of an island, it brings late-Victorian character without heavy period detail. The store was demolished in 1972; the panel is preserved at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Classification
- Category
- Trim & Moulding
- Material
- Cast iron
- Motifs
- Sullivanesque ornament
- Date
- 1881 (demolished 1972)
- Maker or designer
- Adler and Sullivan (American, 1883-1896) Louis Sullivan (American, 1856–1924) Dankmar Adler (American, born Germany, 1844–1900)
- Recorded medium
- Cast iron
- Dimensions
- 171.5 × 96.3 cm (67 1/2 × 37 7/8 in.)
- Evidence
- Documented historical object
- Source
- Art Institute of Chicago
Architectural context
Carved mantels, layered trim and dark, decorative hardwoods. Britain and the United States · c. 1837–1901.
