27 Sep bldg. 51 museum acquires historically important mecca flats interior cast iron staircase balustrade and newel post finial endcap

an original custom-designed, black enameled ornamental cast iron interior staircase baluster and newel post bottom endcap salvaged from edbrooke and burnham’s mecca hotel or flats (1892) during its untimely demolition in 1952, joined the bldg. 51 museum and eric j. nordstrom collection this past week.

the exact fabricator or foundry is not known. the building’s ironwork was finished with applied black paint – not bower-barff, which is unusual, given the number of chicago buildings of this size or bigger that readily embraced the use of bower-barff or copper-plating for ornamental iron and hardware. given my research on the matter, i suspect it was either a cost-cutting measure, or the foundry didn’t have the skill and/or equipment to finish their iron using bower-barff – at least at the time the iron was executed for the mecca. 

ornament courtesy of eric j. nordstrom collection and the bldg. 51 archive. all rights reserved. 2023.