Posted 5 months ago
Gargoyler2
(8 items)
Roundel depicting a female portrait
Maker: Unknown.
Medium: Grey, unglazed terracotta.
Date: Ca. 1903.
Dimensions: 24 x 10 in. 105#
Markings: Partially destroyed by hand-hole, leaving only; ___42 Top.
Origin: Brick tenement, New York City, removed during a 1950s demolition.
Description: Roundel depicting a head and neck portrait of a female with long hair, necklace and dress, framed in a wreath composed of oak and bay leaves.
Several identical roundels have been located on extant buildings in New York City, and one exists in the Brooklyn Museum's salvaged sculpture garden. The unusual and atypical portrait may depict an actual historical figure (as opposed to a mythical one) or a woman of importance to the builder, or architects Horenburger & Straub. The earliest record discovered for this design is a typical tenement apartment building constructed in 1903.
Second photo shows an extant building with one of these on it's facade surrounded by border pieces, the round shape was discouraged because of the additional labor costs special cutting bricks to fit around the shape. The location on the facade and other aspects strongly suggest the portrait was not some stock design, but possibly an important historical figure or a woman important to the one paying for the construction to include these.
The inclusion of laurel and oak leaves surrounding the portrait is highly symbolic and used extensively as such, so the challenge is to determine which woman pre ca. 1903 was of significance enough for the grantor or the architects to commission and install these on several buildings in NYC
