single original early 20th century american antique ornamental cast yellow brass emblematic chicago city hall interior office door hardware designed and fabricated by the yale & towne mfg. co., stamford, ct. the heavily ornamented neoclassical style backplate or escutcheon contains the city seal of chicago in great detail. the matching doorknob with sunken center is adorned with a bayleaf border. the emblematic backplate and matching doorknob contain a nicely aged surface patina throughout. since 1853, the governments of chicago and cook county have shared three different buildings on this site. the monumental, classical revival-style exterior of the present structure, which was designed to be a functional and efficient office building, symbolizes the strength, dignity, and vigor of the governmental functions it contains. the county building was completed in 1908; city hall was finished in 1911. the architectural firm was holabird and roche. yale & towne fabricated the hardware for the first phase of construction (i.e., cook county building). the sargent hardware company likely outfitted city hall by replicating and/or using the original molds from the earlier commission. backplates measure 13 1/4 x 3 1/2 inches. a large variety of hardware is available.