Baluster from Schlesinger and Mayer Store, later Carson Pirie, Scott and Company
Baluster from Schlesinger and Mayer Store, later Carson Pirie, Scott and Company

On view

American Art
Wilmerding Pavilion
Philip & Nancy Anschutz Gallery

Baluster from Schlesinger and Mayer Store, later Carson Pirie, Scott and Company,

1899 – 1904

George Grant Elmslie, 1871–1952; born Huntly, Scotland; died Chicago, IL
Louis Sullivan, 1856–1924; born Boston, MA; died Chicago, IL
y1972-4
As chief draftsman for the architect Louis Sullivan from 1893 to 1909, Elmslie executed the designs for much of the renowned ornamentation produced by Sullivan’s firm. A leading architect in Chicago during a period of great technological innovation, Sullivan embraced the modern, steel-framed skyscraper but covered his buildings with elaborate, richly organic ornament that seems to contradict its mechanical means of production. In this cast-iron baluster for the famed Schlesinger and Mayer department store in Chicago’s downtown Loop, Elmslie integrated Sullivan’s powerful style of decoration with the object’s intended function as both a screen and a support.

Information

Title
Baluster from Schlesinger and Mayer Store, later Carson Pirie, Scott and Company
Dates

1899 – 1904

Maker
George Grant Elmslie
Louis Sullivan
Medium
Cast iron
Dimensions
89 x 25 x 2.9 cm (35 1/16 x 9 13/16 x 1 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company, Chicago
Object Number
y1972-4
Culture
American
Type
balusters
Materials
cast iron
Subject
iron, balustrades, Art Nouveau

Created for a stairway in the building of retail firm Schlesinger & Mayer, 1 South State Street Chicago (IL); purchased as an architectural element of the building by H.G. Selfridge & Co., May 1904; purchased as an architectural element of the building by Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company, August 1904; removed during remodeling after a fire, 1967; donated to the Princeton University Art Museum 1972.

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