Subway Tiles--Part III, the Squire Vickers Era

(All photos were taken in 2012 by Michael Padwee unless otherwise noted)

A "Vickers eagle" mosaic tile panel that replaced a Grueby faience eagle which was possibly damaged at the IRT #6, 33rd Street station (color enhanced)

    “...the first subway, which ran from City Hall to Broadway and 145th Street and opened in October 1904, was constructed by a company called Interborough Rapid Transit [the IRT line, designated by numbers], even though the first route was Manhattan-only. Soon, lines were built into Brooklyn, justifying the name. Beginning in the 1910s, a company called Brooklyn Rapid Transit built a network of surface lines and subways between Brooklyn and Manhattan; when that company went bankrupt after a train crash in a tunnel at Malbone Street, Brooklyn, in 1918, it reorganized as Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit, or the BMT [, designated by letters starting with "L"]. Finally, in the mid-1920s, the City of New York began planning and building its own set of subway lines, called the Independent [the IND line, designated by letters from "A" to "H"].” (http://forgotten-ny.com/2012/03/high-street-station/)

(Most of the mosaic plaques were dingy, damaged and/or filthy and had to be edited in some way)

Mosaic train engine, Grand Central Station (color enhanced)

     The architects George C. Heins & Christopher G. LaFarge presided over the original IRT construction from 1901 to about 1907. Overlapping Heins & LaFarge at the end of their contract was Squire J. Vickers (1872-1947), an architect contracted by the City in 1906 to oversee some of the IRT construction, and in 1913, the IRT/BMT "dual contract" lines and, later, the City-owned IND. Vickers worked for the subway system until 1943. We have already discussed the tile ornamentation during the Heins & LaFarge period (see "Subway Tiles--Parts I and II"). The decorative tilework was distinctly different under Squire Vickers. (An excellent bibliography of the history of the dual contract lines is at http://www.nycsubway.org/ wiki/The_Dual_Contracts)

City Hall Station, historic mosaic panel, "R" train platform (color enhanced)

     "It is clear that Vickers oversaw all of the design work and had a strong hand in choosing the material to be used. ...We...know that at least four [historic plaques] were done by Vicker's Cornell friend, Jay Van Everen, who was then painting in New York. ...In his painting Van Everen was influenced by Synchromist painters who were experimenting with unconventional use of color. ...there is clear evidence that...[Van Everen] created...[these] plaques: 14th Street/Union Square and Canal Street on the BMT; 125th Street and Clark Street on the IRT." (Lee Stookey, Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography, published by Lee Stookey, Brooklyn, NY, 1992, pp. 60-62)

Although much of the original mosaic tilework is gone from Union Square, there are some preserved sections of it. This was probably designed by Jay Van Everen.

     "Another of the designers was Vickers' Cornell friend, Herbert Dole... . ...Vickers credited him with 'most' of the historic plaques. He designed the small hexagonal plaques set in fine mosaic bands at Christopher and Canal Streets, as well as the...bolder plaque at Borough Hall on the 7th Avenue [IRT line]." (Lee Stookey, Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography, published by Lee Stookey, Brooklyn, NY, 1992, p. 62)

Herbert Dole's historic plaque at Borough Hall, Brooklyn

Borough Hall mosaic name plaque (color enhanced)

     According to one reviewer of the Transit Museum's 2007 exhibit, “Squire Vickers and the Subway’s Modern Age,” "[f]or both aesthetic and budgetary reasons Vickers pushed the subway onto a much more pared-down, modern path than that of his Beaux-Arts predecessors." Vickers and his designers used "...quiltlike geometric abstractions, evoking Piet Mondrian and Sophie Taeuber-Arp, [which] began to put a straight edge to the subway’s swoops and curlicues, its terra-cotta cornucopias and floral medallions. ...Mosaic elements were made flat, for example, in part 'to avoid dust ledges,' ...[Vickers] wrote, so they would be cheaper to clean. They could also be set by hand in the factory instead of piece by piece on the wall, making them less expensive to install. And yet, in many places, in design elements like...flat mosaic picture plaque[s,]...Vickers was still able pull off beautiful low-cost effects." (Randy Kennedy, "Underground Renaissance Man: Watch the Aesthetic Walls, Please" in The New York Times, August 3, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/arts/ design/03subw.html?pagewanted=all)

Historic plaque at Chambers Street, #1 Platform

     “The Chambers Street station was among the first underground stations built by Brooklyn Rapid Transit, the predecessor of the BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit). Hence, the stations under Centre Street, Chambers, Canal, and Bowery, look somewhat different from the BMT stations that followed it. The BMT used a diamond pattern  
in station art, but here it shows up on the ID plaques as well as sanserif lettering.
     Beginning later in the 1910s, the BRT/BMT would shift to serifed letters, which in turn reverted back to sanserif with the IND in the 1930s.” (http://forgotten-ny.com/2012/04/back-in-chambers/)

Mosaic-tiled diamond motifs and station names with serif lettering, "J" train platform at Fulton Street, Manhattan

Mosaic "TS" diamond panel in Times Square

     "[Vickers']...works include the following New York subway stations, all of which are listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

In Manhattan:

181st Street Subway Station (IND), Fort Washington Avenue between 185th and 181st Streets; A train

190th Street Subway Station (IND), under Fort Washington Avenue between Fort Tryon Park (Cabrini Boulevard) and W. 190th Street; A train

86th Street Subway Station (Dual System IRT), under Lexington Avenue, between E. 85th and E. 87th Streets; 4, 5,6 trains

West 28th Street Subway Station (Dual System IRT), Seventh Avenue between W. 26th and W. 29th Streets; 1, 2 trains

West Fourth Street Subway Station (IND), under Sixth Avenue between W. 3rd Street and Waverly Place; A, B, C, D, E, F, M trains

Chambers Street Subway Station (Dual System IRT), under West Broadway between Warren, Chambers and Reade Streets; 1, 2, 3 trains

In Brooklyn:

Ninth Avenue Station (Dual System BMT), 38th Street and Ninth Avenue near the junction of New Utrecht Avenue; D train

Avenue U Station (Dual System BMT), between Avenue U and Avenue T and Seventh and Eighth Streets; N train

Bay Parkway Station (Dual System BMT), above Bay Parkway at 86th Street; D train

New Utrecht Avenue Station (Dual System BMT), beneath the junction of New Utrecht Avenue with 15th Avenue and 62nd Street; N train

Ocean Parkway Station (Dual System BMT), above the junction of Brighton Beach Avenue and Ocean Parkway; Q train

Wilson Avenue Subway Station (Dual System BMT), Chauncey Street at Wilson Avenue; L train

In the Bronx:

Pelham Parkway Station (Dual System IRT), junction of White Plains Road and Pelham Parkway; 2, 5 trains

Westchester Square Station (Dual System IRT), above Westchester Avenue, from Overing Street to Ferris Place; 6 train

Woodlawn Station (Dual System IRT), junction of Bainbridge Avenue and Jerome Avenue; 4 train

In Queens:

Court Square Station (Dual System IRT), above 23rd Street between 44th Drive and 45th Road, Long Island City; 7 train

Main Street Subway Station (Dual System IRT), near junction of Roosevelt Avenue and Main Street, Flushing; 7 train" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squire_J._Vickers)

Whitehall Street mosaic panel, "R" train station (enhanced)

Court Street station, Brooklyn mosaic tile panel, "R" platform (enhanced)

"L" train station at Union Square, Manhattan

     Elevated stations provided their own decorative problems to be solved by Vickers. "In one essay Vickers explained frankly why elevated stations, as any frequent subway rider can now see, ended up badly short-changed in the design department: 'Our attempts to beautify have been of little avail, except in certain cases, on account of the cost.'" (Randy Kennedy, "Underground Renaissance Man: Watch the Aesthetic Walls, Please" in The New York Times, August 3, 2007, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/arts/ design/03subw.html?pagewanted=all)

Tile work on and between the concrete support columns. (From S.J. Vickers, "The Architectural Treatment of Special Elevated Stations of the Dual System, New York City", Journal of the American Institute of Architects, Vol. III, No. 11, November 1915, p. 501)

Vickers further explains that in the elevated stations a "systematic effort has also been made to simplify the detail and eliminate all ornament, admitting frankly the utilitarian nature of the structures. Although these stations will be orderly, we cannot hope they will be beautiful because of the conditions imposed. ...Inlaid colored tile is used where it seems desirable to add interest to the structure. A hand-made glazed tile with a semi-vitreous back is used... . The tile is set flush with the concrete in order that the surface may be enriched and still retain its simplicity." (From S.J. Vickers, "The Architectural Treatment of Special Elevated Stations of the Dual System, New York City", Journal of the American Institute of Architects, Vol. III, No. 11, November 1915, pp. 501-502)

The 33rd Street/Rawson Street/Queens Blvd. station, #7 train

Ft. Hamilton Parkway/New Utrecht Ave. station, "D" and "M" trains

Tiles installed in the station's concrete

     In later years, "as subway projects lurched through the Depression[,]...many of his aesthetic decisions were driven by the bottom line." (Randy Kennedy, "Underground Renaissance Man:...")

The Woodlawn (Bronx) IRT elevated station with exterior tiling. 1924 photo from http://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?41758. David Pirmann collection.

     There are a few works that should be kept in mind if you're interested in the subway system and in subway art. Philip Ashforth Coppola's self-published, multi-volume Silver Connections: A Fresh Perspective on the New York Area Subway Systems, is not generally available, but can most likely be located in a library. Lee Stookey's self-published Subway Ceramics: A History and Iconography, published in Brooklyn, NY in 1992 can be purchased online. And, one online resource that I found indispensable was http://www.nycsubway.org/.

     For preservationists the condition of subway art and the seeming lack of interest by the MTA is a constant problem. A recent article by two Daily News writers notes that "A survey of three lines - the No. 6, the No. 1 and the L train - uncovered century-old tile nameplates and artwork that are falling apart because of neglect.  Missing and chipped tiles, water and rust stains, and thick cracks mar dozens of station decorations that should be the system's crowning glory. ...the decay...is only corrected when a station undergoes a top-to-bottom rehabilitation." (Caitlan Millat and Tracy Connor, "Subway ceramics in shameful state", New York Daily News, July 21, 2012, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/subway-ceramics-shameful-state-article-1.306133)

     An earlier New York Times article about nominating the entire subway system to the National Register for Historic Places stated that "Preservationists still bemoan Philip Johnson's makeover of the 49th Street station, blanketed with shiny orange tiles in 1975. 'Cheer is the word, like a big shopping center,' Mr. Johnson announced at the time. Or the demolition of the Bowling Green station starting in 1972, when huge red tiles replaced elegant mosaic name panels and neo-classical designs by Heins and LaFarge, who designed the 1904 and 1908 subway projects... . Or the alterations to the Broadway and 103d Street station, where classic white glazed brick-shaped tiles and at least one terra cotta escutcheon were covered by what [...one critic] called 'penal colony modern' beige walls. Or the destruction of almost all the distinctive above-ground kiosks, carted away in the 1960's, ostensibly because they blocked the sight lines of traffic. 'The real reason,' Mr. Tauranac said, 'is because they'd been neglected. The cast iron and glass were leaking.'" (Tracie Rozhon, "TURF; On the Express Track to Venerability", The New York Times, October 29, 1998,  http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/29/garden/turf-on-the-express-track-to-venerability.html?pagewanted=1)

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.