c. 1924 second national bank building prairie style art glass panel – george grant elmslie, architect

About This Item

remarkably rare, museum quality art glass panel removed from the extant second national bank building designed in the prairie school style by george grant elmslie in 1924. during this time elmslie was nearing the end of his career and began to accept commissions for commercial buildings. elmslie recruited sculptor emil settler, muralist john norton, and kristian schneider, who for many years, modeled terra cotta for sullivan and elmslie, to assist him with the design and execution of the building’s interior and exterior ornament. the exterior building configuration (consisting of roman brick masonry) demonstrates the prairie style emphasis on the horizontal, especially the southern elevation with its rows of vertical piers, bands of window openings, and pink granite foundation. the building is topped with a saddleback gable containing red ceramic tile. the front facades vertical emphasis is due to the lot configuration, however, it too is broken with horizontal features, such as the spandrels between the windows on the front pavilion, the balcony, and the bands of windows. the interior’s original configuration remains somewhat intact, but the counters and ceiling have been altered, walls have been divided into squares and windows were replaced and/or faithfully reproduced (due in large part to the rapidly deteriorating zinc caming and damaged glass. the window depicted above, features a centrally located “v” design, which was a popular and widely recognized motif used in many of his commissions. the strongly geometric window was assembled with zinc caming. the art glass is original, but does contain multiple hairline cracks. attributed to the linden glass co., chicago, il. measures 52 1/2 x 24 inches.