c. 1930’s oliver p. morton elmslie-designed exterior wall sconce with original top finial – attributed to winslow brothers, chicago, il.

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single partially intact museum-quality george grant elmslie commissioned exterior oversized wall sconce possibly fabricated by the winslow brothers of chicago, il. the towering electric sconce is comprised of cast and wrought bronze metal that has been meticulously refinished to remove extreme oxidation. the top and bottom sections of the sconce are adorned with riveted cast bronze plaques with an intricate array of deep relief sullivanesque style interwoven organic motifs surrounding a geometrically inspired central cartouche. the long and narrow exterior sconce has been completely restored with authentic period wissmach amber glass. the cathedral rolled glass panels have very subtle surface characteristics in the manner or tradition of english muffle. the crown contains a series of “weep” holes for proper drainage of water. the strongly geometric finial is comprised of multiple cubes and rectangular-shaped bars riveted together. the original finial is intact, but fragile and needs added reinforcement to be securely attached to the fixture. the original white porcelain socket clusters were left intact and rewired with period appropriate lamp cord. the hinged rear door with knurled dials are original and intact. the two pressed and folded trim piece uprights are missing on the backside. the three-sided plaque configuration remains intact. the single canopy or mounting backplate and square-shaped tubular stem are free from damage. the bottom of the sconce originally rested on a stone sill (thus, only a single mount was used to secure the sconce to the wall. salvaged from a school building. the sconce dates to 1936. george grant elmslie was a prominent architect who worked with louis sullivan and later with william gray purcell. the architectural firm or practice he was most widely known for was that of elmslie and purcell. over the course of the partnership, purcell & elmslie became one of the most commissioned firms among the prairie school architects, second only to frank lloyd wright. following the dissolution of his partnership with purcell, elmslie worked occasionally with various other architects, including lawrence a. fournier, william s. hutton, hermann v. von holst and william eugene drummond, and produced a number of residential structures, banks, train stations, commercial, and institutional buildings during the early 20th century through the 1930′s. measure 11 x 11 x 57 inches.