HERMAN CARL MUELLER AND THE CHURCH OF ST. THOMAS THE APOSTLE

Mueller Mosaic Altar Mural, c. 1910

St. Thomas the Apostle Church was founded over 100 years ago in the Woodhaven neighborhood in Queens. 

The original altar mural was made by the Mueller Mosaic Tile Company of Trenton, New Jersey.

Herman Carl Mueller with a faience tile panel. (E. Stanley Wires, "Decorative Tiles", New England Architect and Builder Illustrated, Number 16, 1960)

“Herman Mueller founded the Mueller Mosaic Tile Company in Trenton, New Jersey, in 1908. According to one source, "Herman Carl Mueller was born in Germany in 1854. As a teenager he wanted to be a professional singer because he had a rich baritone voice. His parents recognized early that young Herman was artistically talented so they encouraged him at age 14 to enter the Nuremberg School of Industrial Arts instead of pursuing professional singing. There he discovered his talent and interest in sculpture, and at age 16 began his formal training at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. When he finished school, he worked as an apprentice with different sculptors throughout Germany. In 1878, at the age of 24, he decided to emigrate to the United States of America because he heard it was a land of opportunity." (http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=1005) After Mueller emigrated to the U.S., he “settled in Cincinnati and worked for Matt Morgan Art Pottery 1882-1884 and then Kensington Art Tile Co. [of Newport, Kentucky.] In 1885 he did sculptures for the Indiananapolis State House in Indiana.” (Lisa F. Taft, “H.C.M., Friend of H.C.M.: A Discussion of Herman Carl Mueller”, Flash Point, Vol. 5, No. 1, January-March 1992, p. 1)

(From Edwin Atlee Barber, The Pottery and Porcelain of the United States, 3rd Edition, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1909, p. 358)

Mueller worked as a modeler for the American Encaustic Tiling Company (AET) in Zanesville, Ohio from 1887-1894. “American Encaustic’s products were at least the equal of any other manufacturer’s, except in the field of art tiles. To rectify this, [...AET] hired the talented, sculptor-mechanic, Herman Mueller in 1887. The artistic quality of the company’s tiles improved dramatically. Mueller’s fireplace surrounds and classical figure panels are among the finest art tiles ever produced. He [Mueller] also demonstrated to architects the virtues of using decorative tiles in such things as fountains and radiator grilles.” (Michael Sims, “The Tiles of Zanesville, Ohio: America’s Tile Manufacturing Center”, Flash Point, Vol. 6, No. 3, July-September 1993, p. 19)

(From Edwin Atlee Barber, The Pottery and Porcelain of the United States, 3rd Edition, G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1909, p. 357)

In 1894, Mueller formed a partnership with the chemist Karl Langenbeck, William Shinnick, Jr. and others and organized the Mosaic Tile Company in Zanesville, Ohio. “Mueller and Langenbeck were responsible for the successful beginning of Mosaic. In the earliest years...they directed all phases of the operation.” In 1895 “they turned their attention to perfecting Mueller’s idea for a new system of manufacturing dust-pressed encaustic tiles [U.S. Patent No. 537703]. Mueller’s idea was to use a standard cell frame, made of rows of interlocking brass strips set at right angles to each other, with 2601 one-eighth inch square cells. The cell frame would replace the expensive separate copper die or mold required for each color in a tile. ...The significance of Mueller’s process was that panels consisting of any number of different tiles, particularly original designs used only once or twice, could be manufactured at a relatively low cost.” (Michael Sims, “The Tiles of Zanesville, Ohio: America’s Tile Manufacturing Center”, Flash Point, Vol. 6, No. 3, July-September 1993, p. 20)

A "mural over the main door of St. Nicholas [RC Church, Zanesville, Ohio] showing Christopher Columbus bringing Christianity to the New World." (Catholic Times, Vol. 58:11, December 14, 2008, p. 10) The tiles were made by Mueller's patented "pseudo-encaustic-mosaic" process in 1898. (Photo courtesy of Michael Padwee)

“This process received a great deal of attention and was used on several major buildings such as the California State Capitol, Sacramento; St. Nicholas Catholic Church, Zanesville, Ohio; and the Moerlein Brewery, Cincinnati. Edwin Atlee Barber cited three advantages [of Mueller’s process]: artistic appearance, great hardness and durability and moderate cost.” (Lisa F. Taft, “H.C.M., Friend of H.C.M.: A Discussion of Herman Carl Mueller”, Flash Point, Vol. 5, No. 1, January-March 1992, p. 15)

Tiles in the California State Capitol, Sacramento

"The present tile floor coverings are reproductions of tiles that were originally purchased from the Mosaic Tile Company of Zanesville, Ohio and installed in 1896. Visitors can see an example of the original Eureka tile grouping in the Eureka Room, located in the basement of the Capitol... ." (http://capitolmuseum.ca.gov/VirtualTour.aspx?content1=1278&Content2=1374&Content3=1294)

By 1903 “Langenbeck and Mueller became increasingly upset by the [Mosaic Tile C]ompany’s emphasis on commercial considerations at the expense of artistic integrity, and...they left their jobs at Mosaic. Mueller became manager of the designing...department at the Robertson [Art Tile Company] Art Branch in Morrisville, Pennsylvania.” (Michael Sims, “The Tiles of Zanesville, Ohio: America’s Tile Manufacturing Center”, Flash Point, Vol. 6, No. 3, July-September 1993, p. 21)

A Robertson Art Tile Company tile "rug" (lower left) designed while Herman Mueller was the manager of this company's Design Department. The swimming pool is also lined with Robertson tiles according to tile historians Scott Anderson and Judi Wells, who have researched this company's history extensively. (Post card courtesy of http://www.Cardcow.com)

"In 1908 he moved to Trenton, New Jersey and started operation of the Mueller Mosaic Company, at the former location of the Artistic Porcelain Company on Chambers Street and Cedar Lane. The company did well and Mueller, the successful businessman, became acquainted with J.V.B. Wicoff while campaigning for Woodrow Wilson's successful attempt to become President of the United States. Years later, Wicoff asked him to design and install the tiles in the sun porch [of his house in Plainsboro, New Jersey]. In addition, Mueller received an extensive commission from J.V.B.s friend and business associate, Henry W. Jeffers, to design and install the ceramic tile and decorations in the Rotolactor of the famous Walker-Gordon Dairy..." in Plainsboro.* (http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=1005)

Tiled Rotolactor Room at the Walker-Gordon Dairy, 1937. (Photo post card courtesy of http://www.cardcow.com)

*["Walker-Gordon Farms of Plainsboro, New Jersey, a subsidiary of the Borden Company, are one of the oldest and largest milk producing farms in the world. The new Rotary Combine Milking System was conceived by Henry W. Jeffers, president of Walker-Gordon, after many years of research, while the milking equipment was developed and installed by the DeLaval Separator Company of New York City. ...The new milking system consists of a revolving platform upon which are placed 50 stanchions. The platform revolves slowly, completing a revolution in 12-1/2 minutes. The platform is housed in a beautiful new building which not only contains the milking system but a complete set of offices and laboratories. The interior of the building is beautifully tiled and in the center of the platform is a large glassed-in observation room, where visitors may observe the milking operation. ...The cows are brought to the Rotary Combine Milker and are conducted to the revolving platform through a tiled passageway. As the cow comes to the end of this passageway, she steps onto the revolving platform and one after another does so until all the stanchions are filled. ...Milking is completed as each cow nears the end of a complete revolution... . The milked cow walks off the platform through a passageway... ." (From http://www.farmcollector.com/looking-back/the-rotolactor.aspx; originally from the December 15, 1930 issue of Farm Machinery and Equipment magazine.) "By June of 1971, the dairy business was no longer profitable and the farm began to raise beef cattle and grow and sell general field crops. Today the Walker-Gordon Farm on Plainsboro Road is a group of 355 single family homes... ." (From James Shackleford, "The Legacy of Walker-Gordon Farms in Central Jersey", January 13, 2011 in http://southbrunswick.patch.com/articles/the-legacy-of-walker-gordon-farms-in-central-jersey)]

"Even with the vast choices in tile at that time, Mueller still felt there was a need for more artistic tiles executed in the Arts and Crafts tradirion of aesthetic beauty joined with high craftsmanship. Some of Mueller's numerous historic installations include the Kelsey Memorial Building and the Crescent Temple in Trenton; the Garden Pier and the Blatt Building in Atlantic City; the Ceramic Building at Rutgers University, New Brunswick; ...all in New Jersey; the YMCA in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; and the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, Japan." (Norman Karlson, "Mueller Mosaic Company", The Encyclopedia of American Art Tiles, Volume I, Section 2, Schiffer Publishing Company, Atglen, PA, p. 149)

Mueller Mosaic Tile Inserts. (From E. Stanley Wires' "Decorative Tiles")

Mueller was hired to create a children's mural in the New Jersey State Capitol Building in Trenton. The ceramic State Seal is also attributed to the Mueller Mosaic Company.

One assessment of Mueller's work claimed he "made some of the most beautiful faience tile ever produced in this country. [His]...products consisted of Frost-proof Faience, Flemish Tile Mosaic, Decorated Inserts, Grilles, Fountains and Polychrome Faience Panels." (E. Stanley Wires, "Decorative Tiles", New England Architect and Builder Illustrated, Number 16, 1960)

A Mueller Mosaic faience tile and metal panel. (From  E. Stanley Wires' "Decorative Tiles")

"As a prominent citizen of Trenton who believed strongly in education, Mueller was appointed president of the Trenton Board of Education. While in the position from 1914 until 1919, he was instrumental in establishing this country's first Junior High School." (http://www.ettc.net/njarts/details.cfm?ID=1005)

A page from a reprint of an undated Mueller Mosaic Company catalog, Mueller Tile: Polychrome Faience Tile Emblems, &c. (A reprint by the Tile Heritage Foundation, 1990s)

A fireplace surround (Christopher Columbus) found near Atlantic City, NJ about 2001 and attributed to the Mueller Mosaic Company by Sandie Fowler and Wendy Harvey, the owners of Antique Articles, and the authors of Art Nouveau Tiles c 1890-1914.

The Mueller Mosaic Tile Company produced tiles for many building exteriors and interiors throughout the country. A number no longer exist, such as J.J. Gafney's office building in Louisville, Kentucky. When this building was being built in 1909, though, the tiling was considered cutting edge in architectural ornamentation. Clay Record wrote that Mueller Mosaic "...is making a specialty of an entirely new application of faience enamels, and the interior of the same office building in Louisville is to be partially walled with some exceptionally artistic designs... . These enamels are of Roman mosaic of small tesserae, principally representing mediaeval coats of arms. They are also produced in similar panel work of Florentine mosaic, representing classical subjects of numerous types and periods. One of each of these panels is now on exhibition in the windows of Thomas Trapp, jeweler, in the Commonwealth Building, on East State Street [in Trenton]. ...The Mueller Co.'s Louisville order will require many thousand feet of tiling, inasmuch as the building to be decorated is an office building of several stories and the interior is spacious." (Clay Record, Vol. XXXV, No. 4, August 30, 1909, p. 31)

(From https://sites.google.com/site/tileinstallationdb/where-are-they-now)

Other buildings--some in Atlantic City, New Jersey--also had Mueller Mosaic exterior ornamentation. For instance, the Garden Pier was built in 1913, and the side pavillions were decorated with Mueller's "Faience Art Tile", where "...the various colored parts of the design are cut according to the outline, and the various pieces thus formed are covered separately with the enamels. This is based on the style of the Florentine mosaics and is very effective, especially for exterior decorative work." Also, "...[Keith's] Garden Pier Theater...has walls of [Mueller Mosaic] flemish tile and faience, with floor of flemish herringbone tile." ("Fine Ceramic Manufacture", Brick and Clay Record, Vol. 56, No. 10, May 4, 1920, p. 933) The original Garden Pier structures were damaged in a hurricane in 1944 and no longer exist.

The Knights of Columbus building at 1408 Pacific Avenue, Atlantic City was adorned with Mueller Mosaic faience tiles, but in 2003 the deserted building was voted the greatest eyesore in the city, and it remained deserted and boarded-up into 2010. However, Seth Gaines took some excellent color photos of the tile work in 2009.

In 1922 Mueller Mosaic ran a series of ads in Architectural periodicals showing some of the company's faience storefronts.

(From Pencil Points, Vol. III, No. 3, March 1922, p. 47)

Herman Mueller was also called upon to decorate the interiors of private residences. One of these--that of Schuyler Schieffelin in Monroe, New York, designed by architect Bowen Bancroft Smith, and built with cement--was described in the January 1917 issue of Concrete: "...but the principal motif in the decoration of these [interior] cement surfaces is a very original treatment by inserts of special tile. ...It was intended to recall by these tile the foliage of the surrounding hills and Mr. Smith selected oak and maple leaves as suitable for the purpose and designed borders for the several rooms consisting of groups of leaves connected by conventional stems or borders. ...The tile themselves are real works of art... ." (Concrete, Vol. 10, No. 1, January 1917, pp. 11-13)

"It would be impossible to exaggerate the beautiful color of these tiles or the truthful representation and remarkable vitality of their outlines, equalling the most skillful carving. The stems are of exquisite glazed blues and bluish purples, while the leaves themselves have green centers, mottled and speckled as if by fungi, with yellow tips, resembling leaves in the first turning of autumn foliage." (John Taylor Boyd, Jr., "The House of Schuyler Schieffelin", The Architectural Record, Vol. XL, No. 1, July 1916, p. 41) 

"Complete full size details were made [by the architect] showing each individual piece of tile, leaf or stem, and the tile were glued, face downward, to these details, which were...cut into sections...and each indexed and marked for location [in the house]." (Concrete, Vol. 10, No. 1, January 1917, pp. 11-13)

(John Taylor Boyd, Jr., "The House of Schuyler Schieffelin", The Architectural Record, Vol. XL, No. 1, July 1916, pp. 38-39) 

"The hexagonal tiling in the halls, dining room, entrance hall and sun parlor are three inch pieces of leathery reddish color, porous in texture, relieved by frequent but irregularly spaced figured tiles." (John Taylor Boyd, Jr., p. 41)

In a future post I plan to discuss some of the Mueller Mosaic tile installations still existing in New Jersey--Domenico Mortellito's WPA murals in the Newark Subway System; Columbia High School in Maplewood; and Hepburn Hall, in New Jersey City University, Jersey City, among others.

Mueller also created other ceramic ecclesiastic sculptures. I discovered a Mueller Mosaic Company catalog page with an illustration of the faience Shrine of the Little Flower, St. Dominic's Church at 7625 Linwood, Detroit, Michigan.

 I have tried, unsuccessfully, to find out what happened to this Shrine when the Catholic Diocese gave up this building about four years ago. Ren Farley writes on his website, Detroit1701.org: "In 1925, Brewster Congregational sold the church...to the Roman Catholic diocese.  The next year the Catholics opened St. Dominic’s Catholic Church with the Dominican Fathers staffing and managing the parish.  The Catholics extensively remodeled this 1919 church... . The Dominican fathers operated this church until 1999 when they gave up their control.  Priests from the diocese of Detroit took over.  In the fall of 2005, the diocese of Detroit announced that St. Dominic’s parish would be closed and the final Mass was said in this church on November 11 of that year." Hopefully, the fate of this faience Shrine at the hands of the Detroit Diocese will be different than the fate of the Cambridge-Wheatley ecclesiastic faience in Philadelphia's Church of the Transfiguration at the hands of the Philadelphia Diocese.

Mueller also supplied the tiles used in the First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mueller Mosaic tiles on the front facade of the First Plymouth Congregational Church. Photo courtesy of Michael Padwee.

I've now come full circle back to Woodhaven, Queens. St. Thomas the Apostle Church is located at 87-19 88th Avenue, Woodhaven, NY 11421.

Map courtesy of Google Maps.

The Church of Saint Thomas the Apostle has been an integral part of Woodhaven and surrounding communities since 1910 and has recently had a needed restoration

for its Centennial Celebration. St. Thomas' Pastor and the Director of Liturgy for the Diocese, Reverend Frank C. Tumino, was very helpful locating a photo of the original altar mosaic, as well as a 6" square, relief tile of the "Madonna and Child" that was rescued when the new mural was installed in the 1950s.

The exterior tile work on the church facade has been restored. According to Reverend Tumino the Church did not have enough funds to reglaze the worn exterior tiling, but they did paint the tiles so they matched the original glazes as closely as possible. The 1950s altar mosaic was cleaned and polished, and a horizontal crack was repaired. But, there is even more than the exterior tiles and the altar tile mosaic. There are twelve "Stations of the Cross" mosaic tile murals that were added at the same time as the new altar mosaic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcEIJXoiOmk
(The photography in the video is by Mario Brienza.)

The original Mueller Mosaic altar from a photo taken after a first alteration in which two murals to each side of the altar were removed and the two statues seen here were added. Photo courtesy of St. Thomas the Apostle Church.

A tile from the altar area which was rescued during the 1950s when the new altar mosaic took the place of the original.

Mueller Mosaic created a series of relief ecclesiastical ceramics with similar borders and advertised them as "polychrome mural tiling".

(From Pencil Points, Vol. III, No. 8, August 1922, p. 52)

"The economic depression of the 1930s, Mueller's advanced age, and also the switch in popular decorative tastes to sleeker, less expensive, and industrial produced materials, all contributed to the firm's decline in sales in the mid-1930s. To the end, Mueller stuck by his decision to produce art tiles in the Arts and Crafts tradition. Mueller died in 1941, and the company closed the following year." (Norman Karlson, "Mueller Mosaic Company", The Encyclopedia of American Art Tiles, Volume I, Section 2, Schiffer Publishing Company, Atglen, PA, p. 149)

MEET ME AT THE ASTOR

Historic American Buildings Survey, Photocopy, Courtesy of New York Historical Society, Poster in the Landauer Collection. 
HABS NY, 31-NEYO,72-3 

 In a review of Justin Kaplan’s book, When the Astors Owned New York: Blue Bloods and Grand Hotels in a Gilded Age, Roger Lowenstein stated that “Though the Astors built New York's first great hotels, I would wager that few New Yorkers today associate either the Waldorf-Astoria or Astor Place with the clan that bequeathed the name. By comparison, the names Carnegie Hall and Rockefeller Center still evoke their founders. One reason is that the Astors were rather passive; after the first generation, they were less bloodsucking robber barons than men of leisure with a business hobby. ...Mr. Kaplan is mainly interested in John Jacob IV, Caroline...[Astor’s] son, born in 1864, and his older first cousin, William. Great-grandsons of the patriarch, Willy and John Jacob were bitter rivals and competed by trying to top each other's hotels. William built the Astor (the original had shuttered) on Times Square. "Meet me at the Astor" became part of the lexicon. ...John Jacob answered with the St. Regis, at 55th Street, a mere month later. ...The cousins' hotels, six in all, endured longer [than they did], but most would eventually give way to the wrecking ball. It is a sad footnote to the Astors' eclipse that the present-day Waldorf-Astoria, otherwise unrelated [to the family], bought its name for $1.”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/business/yourmoney/18shelf.html?_r=0; Roger Lowenstein, “An Age of Splendor, and Hotel One-Upmanship”, The New York Times, June 18, 2006) The Astor was one of the hotels that did not survive "developers' progress".
    
“William Waldorf Astor built the 35,000 square foot hotel which was designed by the architectural firm of Clinton & Russell and was constructed by John Downey. The building proper was in the French Renaissance style, carried out in red brick and limestone with a Mansard roof made from copper and green slate. Like a Victorian parlor writ large the Hotel was chock-a-block full of curios, design features and stylistic knock-offs that ranged in theme from Chinese to German Volk, from Louis XVI to Art Nouveau, from WASP American to Native American.” (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ma04/ranger/astor_collection/hotel.html)

"The...Hotel Astor was built in two stages, in 1905 and 1909-1910, by the same architects in the same style. On completion it occupied an entire city block at a reported total cost of $7 million. Architects Clinton & Russell had designed a number of Astor commissions; here they developed a very Parisian "Beaux Arts" style completed with green-copper mansard roof. Its eleven stories contained 1000 guest rooms, with two more levels underground for its extensive "backstage" functions, such as the wine cellar.
     
The Astor was an important element in the growth of Times Square and its character as an entertainment center. In 1904 New York Times publisher Adolph S. Ochs moved his newspaper's operations to a new tower on 42nd Street in the middle of Longacre Square, and Ochs persuaded Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr. to build a subway station there and rename it Times Square. The theatre district would soon occupy magnificent new auditoriums along Forty-second Street, and electric lighting transformed this strip of Broadway into the "Great White Way".  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Astor_(New_York)

“Grill-rooms have been made special features of several clubs, and are...extremely popular. Few clubs have gone to the length of making the grill-room in all respects the thing that the name implies, a place where one may actually see one’s chop or steak grilled on the glowing fire before one’s eyes, but the grill-rooms of several clubs have the cozy charm associated with the name, and in the case of others the old-fashioned union of dining-room and kitchen has been accomplished.

One of the most famous of New York grill-rooms is that of the Hotel Astor at Broadway and Forty-fourth Street. This apartment occupies a large part of the basement of the hotel, It is long and low with groined ceiling and arched entrances. The decorative effect is obtained by the free use of pictures and figures having a special relation to the West of this continent. Gigantic antlered heads of moose and other wild creatures are disposed about the room, and there are large and small busts of American Indians displayed… .” (E.N. Vallandigham, “New York Grill-Rooms” in House and Garden, Vol. 7, No. 5, May 1905, pp. 265-269)

Drawing of the Indian Grill Room and Basement Floor of the Hotel Astor

“When brothers William and Frederick Muschenheim opened the Hotel Astor to New York City's elite in the fall of 1904, they offered their guests and visitors a unique experience -- the opportunity to sip drinks, sample hors d'oeuvres, and enjoy viewing the hundreds of Native American baskets, ceramics, and artwork displayed in the...'Hall of the American Indian,' which served both recreational and educational purposes, featured artifacts and photographs acquired from Alaska to Mexico by explorers, traders, and scientists. ...Although the Hall's artworks and artifacts were marketed as scientific and cultural representations, the room's primary role was to entertain. Unlike museum pieces, which would have been documented and catalogued, few records of any kind exist that might shed light on their sources and histories. Today, thousands of mysteries swirl around each object: Who made it? Why was this one chosen for display rather than another? What did it mean to the people who created it? What did it mean to the people who gazed at it from the grill room tables of a New York luxury hotel?”
(http://www.virginia.edu/artmuseum/VirtualExhibitions/Astor/astorindex.html)

From: T.J. George, “Hotel Astor”, The New York Architect, V. 3, No. 12, Dec. 1909

The ad below clearly shows part of the patterned tile floor designed and produced by the American Encaustic Tiling Company for the Indian Grill Room in 1904.

American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia Chapter, The T-Square Club Year Book and Catalogue, Fifteenth Annual Architectural Exhibition, 1909, unpaginated ad. It is not known how long this tiled floor with its Native American "luck" design existed, but it did not survive the advent of World War II.

There are a number of famous, tiled grill rooms in hotels in this and other cities that deserve mention. We have already discussed the Atlantic Terra Cotta panels designed by Fred Marsh for the Marine Grill Room (demolished in 1991) in the Hotel McAlpin. The Norse Room in the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh (demolished in 1967) was paneled with Rookwood tile murals that illustrated a poem by Longfellow, "Skeleton in Armor".

(From: http://tileresearcharticles.omeka.net/items/show/8)

In 1914 the Dutch Grill Room opened in the New Morrison Hotel in Chicago. As you walked into the dining room, you were greeted by "...a large mural decoration of a scene near Antwerp, in blue and white tile, depicting a family of Hollanders in the fields on the shores of the ocean with a sail-boat, clouds, windmill and farmhouses in the distance. ...The grill room...wall design is completed with small panels of blue and white satin finished faience tile which depict cubist scenes in the peaceable land of windmills... . The same color scheme is to be found in the mat finish flint tiling six inches by six inches which is used in the construction of the entire floor. ...The bases of the English oak pillars are...molded Ohio flint tile...and are entirely in white." ("American Tilemakers Excel Foreign Producers", Brick and Clay Record, Vol. XLVI, No. 6, March 16, 1915, pp. 561-562) The "Ohio Flint" tiles were made by the American Encaustic Tiling Company of Zanesville, Ohio, and the Dutch-style tiles were probably made by the Rookwood Potteries in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Picture post card of the Dutch Grill Room. The murals are on the walls.

One grill room that still exists with its Rookwood tiling is the Rathskeller in the Seelbach Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky. "The Seelbach...is equal parts historical landmark and architectural masterpiece. It began as the dream of two Bavarian brothers — Otto and Louis Seelbach — in 1869 when Louis came to Louisville to learn the hotel business. In 1903, after several years of running restaurants and gentleman's clubs, the brothers began construction of a new hotel at the corner of 4th and Walnut Street (now Muhammad Ali), creating a lavish, turn-of-the-century Beaux Arts Baroque hotel. Sparing no expense, they imported marbles from all over the world, bronzes from France, hardwoods from the West Indies and Europe, linens from Ireland, and valuable Turkish and Persian Rugs.

Billed as "the only fireproof hotel in the city," the new Seelbach opened in May of 1905 by offering a 5-hour public inspection and drawing an incredible 25,000 visitors. The hotel was so popular, the Seelbach brothers began a 154-room addition in the fall of that same year.

In 1907, the expansion was completed and included the famous Bavarian-style Rathskeller, decorated with rare Rookwood Pottery. Today the Rathskeller remains the only surviving ensemble of its kind."
(http://www.seelbachhilton.com/03_a_historic.php)

Part of the Rookwood tiling and faience ornamentation in the Seelbach's Rathskeller

One New York City grill room that is still partially intact-- and that part was declared a New York City landmark in 1992--is the former Della Robbia Bar, aka the "Crypt", and then the Fiori Restaurant in the former Vanderbilt Hotel at 4 Park Avenue. It was built from 1910-1913 and designed by Warren and Wetmore, architects. "...the (former) Della Robbia Bar...is a rare survivor of the...[original] hotel['s] interior. It exhibits architecturally significant Guastavino vaults featuring colorful, glazed tiles and terra cotta manufactured by the...Rookwood Pottery Company. The surviving space comprises the entire original bar (now the front dining room) and two adjacent gallery bays (now the rear dining room) of the similarly decorated Della Robbia Grill Room, otherwise destroyed. Seemingly Rookwood's largest interior commission, the Della Robbia Grill and Bar were typical of the spacious public interiors incorporated into hotels built during the decade before World War I... .
     
"The most striking features of the design of the Della Robbia Restaurant were its ceramic-tile finish and its thin-shell Guastavino vaults... . ...The final design for the restaurant was composed of a variety of shapes and colors. Arches were faced in a blue background, against which ivory-colored bands of foliated patterns framed flowers of two types, one of which featured grotesque heads; borders of rectangular blue tiles were edged in spindle moldings. Vaults were edged with a field of blue and aqua tiles superimposed with an outer border of ivory rope molding and an inner band of yellow, green and red panels alternating with ivory rosettes. ...The dramatic spatial effect of multiple vaults, trimmed in delicate, colorful terra-cotta patterns, and the glistening surface of salt-glazed tiles decorated with a raised interlocking key pattern and laid in a herringbone fashion (typical of the Guastavino Company's work) were among the features that attracted customers to the Della Robbia Grill Room and Bar.
     
"In 1965 the hotel was closed... . [The structure was altered, and...t]he basement level and most of the gallery of the Della Robbia Grill Room were stripped of their original character. However, the Della Robbia Bar and the adjacent two bays of the Grill Room gallery were spared; they remain largely intact [and] are entered through an East 33rd Street doorway... ." (Former) Della Robbia Bar (aka The 'Crypt,' now Fiori Restaurant), in the (former) Vanderbilt Hotel, Ground Floor Interior...", New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, April 5, 1994; Designation List 258, LP-1904)

Some of the tilework in the surviving, former Della Robbia Bar.
Photo courtesy of the Friends of Terra Cotta.

Today, the Fiori Restaurant is gone and the "Della Robbia" space at 4 Park Avenue is now occupied by the upscale Wolfgang's Steakhouse, which has a photo gallery that features the surviving Guastavino and Rookwood tilework.

Subway Tiles--Part II, Heins and LaFarge

A brief digression before going on to Subway Tiles:

I recently entered two photos in the Labor Heritage Foundation "Occupy Now!" photography contest. One submission, "Rise Up-We Are The 99%" won first prize for amateurs. (http://www.laborheritage.org/?p=2544)

More of my photos are at http://michaelpadweephotos.weebly.com/.

Now, the subway tiles:

A Grueby Eagle on the 33rd Street #6 platform (2012)

      In 1901 a section of wall of what was to become the Columbus Circle station was set aside so ceramic and other companies could install their wares for inspection by the Rapid Transit Commission. (The New York Times, May 26, 1901) Among these companies was the American Encaustic Tiling Company, which was hoping to obtain a contract to tile the subway stations' walls with plain tiles. According to a plaque in the Columbus Circle station, "Though these American Encaustic wall tiles were not selected, the company produced decorative tiles and mosaics for many original 1904 IRT stations, and larger plaques for stations built in the 1910s."

Plaque in the Columbus Circle station that explains the AET exhibit. 
The wall at the top is where the tiles were exhibited. (Photo courtesy of Michael Padwee)

       "Another keyhole to the past opened recently on the uptown platform of the No. 1 train at the...Columbus Circle station...: an interwoven guilloche pattern--...in red and yellow mosaic tiles. ...Next to the guilloche border is a large blue-gray mosaic medallion, enclosing a four-lobed pattern known as a quatrefoil. ...In 'Silver Connections' (1984), his monumental history and description of the New York subway, Philip Ashforth Coppola...wrote '[in 1901]...architects used its [Columbus Circle Station's] walls as an art gallery, experimenting with decorative ideas... .' After their brief service..., 'all these preliminary experiments were covered over and forgotten.'" (David W. Dunlap, "Behind an Old Subway Wall, a Glimpse of an Even Older One", The New York Times, October 20, 2010, http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/antique-mosaic-comes-to-light-not-far-from-where-the-coliseum-stood/)

     From the first contract to build a subway system in 1900 there was an emphasis on art in public areas. William Barclay Parsons, the chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission, hired George Heins and Christopher LaFarge as consulting architects for the IRT subway system. (Lee Stookey, Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography, published by Lee Stookey, Brooklyn, NY, 1992, p. 14)

     "All of the station...[construction] was designed by the engineers of the Rapid Transit Board under Parsons' direction. The raw brick walls and concrete ceilings were then turned over to Heins and LaFarge to be 'beautified.' The decorative scheme that they devised was certainly influenced by Parsons... . Heins and LaFarge's plans were subject to the final approval of Parsons, who delegated authority to D. L. Turner, assistant engineer in charge of stations for the Rapid Transit Subway Construction Company. August Belmont also oversaw station decoration; he approved of the first completed station at Columbus Circle, but complained of the use of too much brick at Astor Place, 50th Street, and 66th Street. [Heins and LaFarge had designed the Zoo in the Bronx and] ...carried several techniques from that project into the subway. These included Guastavino arches and vaulted ceilings, polychrome tile, and ornamental figures... .

How a subway station wall area originally looked. ("Subway Stations in New York City", Brick, Vol. XIX, No. 3, September 1903, p. 93)

Original station decorative scheme

     "In general, the station finish consisted of a sanitary cove base that made the transition from floor to wall, upon which rested a brick or marble wainscot for the first two and one-half feet or so of wall area. This wainscot was applied to withstand the hard usage that the lower wall would be subjected to. The wainscot was completed by either a brick or marble cap, and the remainder of the wall area was covered with three by six-inch white glass tiles, completed near the ceiling by a cornice or frieze. The wall area was divided into fifteen foot panels, the same spacing as the platform columns, by the use of colored tiles or mosaic... . The full station name appeared on large tablets of either mosaic tile, faience, or terra-cotta at frequent intervals, while smaller name plaques were incorporated into the cornice every fifteen feet. Sharp corners were eliminated and junctions between walls were curved to prevent chipping and facilitate cleaning. ...the stations exhibit considerable variation in color and detail. A conscious effort was made by the architects to create a distinct wall treatment for each station, both to relieve monotony and assist in the identification of different locations, and the 'extent of the decoration varies with the relative importance of the stations.' Wherever possible, a local association was worked into the decorative scheme, such as the seal of Columbia University at 116th and Broadway. Heins and LaFarge used a number of different details to add interest to the stations." (Architectural Designs for New York's First Subway, David J. Framberger, Survey Number HAER NY-122, pp.365-412, Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Washington, DC 20240)

A Grueby "Santa Maria" tile plaque at the IRT 59th Street/Columbus Circle platform (2012)

Grueby Faience

A Grueby Faience ad in the 1905 Catalogue of the Twentieth Annual Exhibition of the  Architectural League of New York.

     Heins and LaFarge also worked with designers and producers of ceramics. Two of the most prominent were William M. Grueby of the Grueby Faience Company of Boston, and William Watts Taylor, president of the Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati, Ohio.  "...Grueby...was responsible for many of the distinctive early plaques: the ship at Columbus Circle, the eagle at 33rd Street, the beaver at Astor Place and a similar plaque for 50th Street, wreath-like medallions at 116th Street and 14th Street..., and the blue oval sign at Bleecker Street...[,] also...the heavy-bordered name panel at 28th Street and smaller letter and number signs and medallions at Brooklyn Bridge, 18th Street..., 42nd Street, 103rd Street, and 110th Street." (Lee Stookey, Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography, published by Lee Stookey, Brooklyn, NY, 1992, p. 16) 

Astor Place Beaver plaque. 2012 photo, Michael Padwee

     In March 2000 a Grueby beaver plaque was going to be auctioned off by the Cincinnati Art Galleries in Cincinnati, Ohio. According to its description it was "formerly of the New York Subway System...[i]nstalled, circa 1905, at Astor Place Station...[and r]emoved during [an] official renovation sometime in the 1960s... . The tile measures 25 by 14 inches and is signed 'MC+' on its right side in green slip." (Lot 120, "Art Tile Auction, March 1 Thru 9, 2000" [catalog], Cincinnati Art Galleries, Cincinnati, Ohio) Although this historic plaque had been sold previously and had been part of a joint exhibit by a gallery and a museum, it wasn't until this auction that a number of people thought the tile might actually belong to the City of New York and demanded that it be pulled from the auction.

Another renovation in 2012, but the Grueby plaques remain. (Photo courtesy of Michael Padwee)

     

An Atlantic Terra Cotta letter-cartouche at Canal Street

Atlantic Terra Cotta Company

     Along with Rookwood and Grueby "...the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company...joined the project...[and was] responsible for shield-like cartouches at Canal Street, Worth Street..., Spring Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx. Atlantic Terra Cotta also produced small number panels for several stations...by ingenious mass-production: a standard plaque, bordered with cornucopias, was designed to receive a separately molded panel with the street number...on it. Examples can be seen in several stations including 86th Street, 137th Street, 145th Street and 157th Street." (Lee Stookey, Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography, published by Lee Stookey, Brooklyn, NY, 1992, p. 16)

A mass produced, Atlantic Terra Cotta Company cornucopia and street number panel

     "During the first quarter of the 20th century the Atlantic Terra Cotta Company was the largest producer of architectural terra cotta in the world. By 1908 the firm operated four plants including Perth Amboy and Rocky Hill, N.J.; Staten Island, N.Y. and Eastpoint, Ga. (near Atlanta). The company maintained branch offices in New York, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Dallas and Newark, N.J. William H. Wilson presided as company president during peak years of production.

     National production of terra cotta quadrupled from 1900 to 1912, and the industry prospered throughout the 1920s. Terra cotta provided the ideal facade for the high rise, metal skeletal, constructed buildings. Atlantic Terra Cotta manufactured products for forty percent of the terra cotta buildings in New York City...", as well as for the subway system. The company closed in 1943. (http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utaaa/00038/aaa-00038.html)

Hartford Faience

     Both William Grueby and Eugene Atwood worked for the Low Art Tile Works in Chelsea, Massachusetts in the 1880s. They formed a partnership in an architectural faience company in 1891, and in 1894 Atwood formed the Atwood Faience Company of Hartford, Connecticut, which later became the Hartford Faience Company. At the same time Grueby formed his own company in South Boston. (Susan J. Montgomery, The Ceramics of William H. Grueby, Arts and Crafts Quarterly Press, Lambertville, NJ, 1993, pp. 13-16) Hartford Faience supplied some of the plaques and cartouches for at least the Borough Hall Station in Brooklyn, and the South Ferry Station in Manhattan.

`From "Hartford" Faience and Tiles 1910, a reprint of an original catalog, owned and published by Antique Articles, artiles@antiquearticles.com, c. 2000

A Borough Hall (Brooklyn) plaque and surrounding mosaic tiling

     Hartford Faience was at it's high point about 1904 when the company participated in the St. Louis World's Fair with an impressive display that included it's famous "Sun (or "Fire") Worshipers" fireplace panel.

9' x 5' "Sun-Worshipers" or "Fire-Worshipers" panel

 Rookwood Faience

     The Rookwood Pottery Company of Cincinnati, Ohio created a number of the tile plaques and other tile ornamentation in some Heins and LaFarge stations. Rookwood's company records note that the pottery's faience division was responsible for the 23rd, 79th, 86th, and 91st Street stations and the large plaques at Wall and Fulton Streets. (Lee Stookey, Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography, published by Lee Stookey, Brooklyn, NY, 1992, pp. 16+)

A Rookwood plaque and faience "W" panel installed at the Wall Street IRT #6 station

     "Maria Longworth Nichols Storer founded Rookwood Pottery in 1880 as a way to market her hobby - the painting of blank tableware. Through years of experimentation with glazes and kiln temperatures, she eventually built her own kiln, hired a number of excellent chemists and artists who were able to create high-quality glazes of colors never before seen on mass-produced pottery." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rookwood_Pottery_Company)

A picture post card from the author's collection

     "In 1883, Nichols hired William Watts Taylor (1847-1913) as the general business manager of Rookwood pottery.  Taylor’s goals for Rookwood echoed those of [William] Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement which was to restore quality and integrity to the arts.  Taylor was adamant about nurturing innovative ideas and even commissioned leading chemists, such as Karl Langenbeck (1861-1938), to aid in the development of new glazes.  The results were the extraordinary glazes that were at the time exclusive to Rookwood pottery.  It was under Taylor’s command that Rookwood would reach the summit of its success." (Daneel S. Smith, "Rookwood Pottery as 'Fine Art'", http://journal.utarts.com/articles.php?id=1&type=paper)

     "In 1902, Rookwood added architectural pottery to its portfolio. Under the direction of Watts Taylor, this division rapidly gained national and international acclaim. Many of the flat pieces were used around fireplaces in homes in Greater Cincinnati and surrounding areas, while custom installations found their places in grand homes, hotels, and public spaces. Even today, Rookwood tiles decorate Carew Tower, Union Terminal (Cincinnati) and Dixie Terminal in Cincinnati, as well as the Rathskeller Room in The Seelbach Hilton in Louisville, Ky. In New York, the Vanderbilt Hotel, Grand Central Station, ...Lord and Taylor and several subway stops feature Rookwood tile designs." (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rookwood_Pottery_Company)

A slightly damaged Rookwood plaque and faience "F" panel at the Fulton Street IRT #6 platform

     Both Rookwood and Grueby have "decorated" other railway facilities throughout the country. Rookwood faience tiles were used in the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company Terminal in Spokane, Washington in 1913, and Grueby faience tiles were used in Scranton, Pennsylvania for the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. In 1908 the DL&W dedicated what was to be its "star [terminal]. ...the palatial structure housed one of the most important art tile installations in America--a frieze that circles the waiting-room and consists of thirty-six murals composed of Grueby Faience tiles. Each mural depicts a scene along the railroad's lines beginning at the Hoboken Ferry slips...and ending at Niagara Falls... ." All the panels are two feet high and four to nine feet long. The railroad waiting room is now a restaurant. The story of these murals, written by Dr. Richard D. Mohr and photographed by Robert W. Switzer, can be found online at http://www.aapa.info/ Portals/0/ Lackawana.pdf where this information was obtained. 

A view of the D, L & W waiting room with the panels below the balcony in a 1909 photograph, and one of the Grueby panels, below.

     For information and photos about "everything" NYC subways check out http://www.nycsubway.org/.

     In another post I will discuss the subway tiling during the Squire Vickers era of construction.