19th century unrestored copper-plated cast bronze columbus memorial building interior office door hinge with distinctive finials – yale & towne mfg. co., stamford, ct.

About This Item

original documented late 19th century heavily ornamented cast bronze interior columbus memorial building office door hinge designed and fabricated by the yale & towne mfg. co., stamford, ct. the copper-plated patented door hinge with a loose pin and multiple well-maintained knuckles, contains two heavily ornamented leaves with a multitude of screw holes for mounting purposes. the floral motifs surrounding the screw holes are similar to those found on the backplates. the distinctive finials bearing a strong resemblance to a monarch’s crown, are tapered and beaded. the plated treatment and/or design was patented by yale & towne long before the building was constructed. multiple hinges available for sale. the non-extant or demolished columbus memorial building was a 15-story steel frame downtown chicago skyscraper building designed at a time to capitalize on the columbian exposition or chicago worlds fair of 1893. the downtown chicago steel frame structure was the very last commission for william w. boyington, who was a highly regarded chicago architect at the time. boyington earned a solid reputation for designing several buildings prior to the great chicago fire of 1871, which included the chicago water tower and pumping station (extant). however, most of his buildings constructed prior to 1871 were destroyed in the fire. the heavily ornamented terra cotta and stone building featured large glass mosaics of the landing of columbus between the main entrance on state street. a nine-foot cast bronze freestanding statue was mounted in an alcove directly above the building’s entrance. the 240 foot tower contained an opalescent glass globe that was lit by incandescent lighting. continents on the globe were marked in color, with a large cut jewel used to pinpoint chicago’s location. an in-depth or descriptive analysis of the interior is still a work in progress for me. with more time in the near future, i hope to locate any and all interior images of the building, along with information pertaining to the decorative treatments used throughout the lobby and office spaces, which were primarily as physician offices. the few artifacts collected from this building (see other listings) are likely just the tip of the iceberg, but whether anything equally or much more substantial dodged the wrecking ball or scrap yards remains undetermined. at the very least the moses ezekiel-designed statue of christopher columbus was rescued shortly before demolition and later relocated to little italy’s arrigo park (formerly known as vernon park) in 1966.