montgomery ward & co. "spirit of progress" building weathervane fragment joins the bldg. 51 museum collection

it's no secret that this gargantuan, riveted joint, wrought bronze metal john massey rhind-designed statue or figural weathervane head fragment was brought to auction by the david v. nelson family, based on all of its recent recognition in local media. however, i was truly surprised and remarkably fortunate to secure the weathervane artifact (for the bldg. 51 museum), that once was apart of the historically important eighteen-foot-tall (the height varies from one source to the next) "spirit of progress" full-figured weathervane that has received continuous attention or mention in newspapers, postcards, trade journals and the like since 1900.

after spending an evening gathering additional information on this unusually large and storied weathervane fragment that once stood atop the 390-foot tower of the montgomery & ward's downtown chicago headquarters completed in 1898, i had this overwhelming feeling that it belongs to the city of chicago, for the greater public to see and appreciate. donating this fragment to the chicago historical society museum seems like a good fit. it most certainly would receive greater exposure in their museum versus mine, which at this point has transitioned into virtual and catalog format, focused solely on architectural artifacts.

perhaps i'm just being overly dramatic about its importance, but reading the old postcards written after people visiting the observatory, being made fun of by louis sullivan in one of his most famous books, "kindergarten chats," being knocked around by a low-flying airplane and on and on. the statue has a great deal of history in chicago, and that is what made be begin to think the fragment belongs elsewhere, despite being the winning bidder at auction.

i immensely enjoyed taking the weathervane head to my studio where i could photodocument its current condition, with surface patina and material analysis par for the course. i have included multiple images of the head, shot in my studio shortly after receiving it from the auction house. i need to further examine the interior, which contains riveted seams, along with the surface patina that appears to be a combination of oxidation and surface paint - likely remnants of a gilded finish applied to the exterior.

the extant (although heavily altered) montgomery ward & co. tower building was designed by the notable chicago architect richard e. schmidt in the late 1890's. the 12-story building was of steel frame construction with a tower and a single basement resting on 50-foot woodpile foundations. the massive weathervane or statue (depicting the greek goddess diana), known officially as "progress lighting the way for commerce" was modeled by scottish-american sculptor john massey rhind and installed on october 20th, 1900. at the time of it's completion, it was the tallest building in chicago at 394 feet, for nearly 20 years thereafter.

the building has since been reduced to 282 feet when the pyramidal top or tower and sculpture were removed due to "safety reasons" in 1947. during this time, the statue was dissected into several pieces with her breasts, arms and so on snatched up by a group of chicago souvenir hunters - the other pieces making up this finely executed sculpture have yet surface. interestingly, a chicago tribune article from july 20, 1947 reported that a prominent chicagoan requested her bust. during this time, the david v. nelson family acquired the head of the statue.

prior to being dismantled in 1947, the figural weathervane's original form was depicted as a nude bearing a flaming torch in her right hand and a caduceus in her left balancing atop a globe. rhind's sculpture was influenced in part by augustus saint-gaudens diana, which topped the agriculture building at the 1893 chicago world's fair.

a special thanks to tim samuelson for his feedback and sending me the post cards of the building and observatory.