an original polychromatic ornamental cast iron uptown theater aisle seat end

after spending an afternoon a few ago photographing the facade of the congress theater, combined with revisiting nortown theater ornament i salvaged in 2007, and researching the architectural firm of rapp and rapp for an upcoming exhibit i'm putting together on "artifacts from atmospheric theaters," i was inspired to thoroughly document a single salvaged interior uptown theater auditorium illuminated aisle seat or chair end, comprised of cast iron with solid birch wood arm rest. aside from being a historically-important artifact from a notable chicago theater, i am deeply drawn to its original polychromatic color scheme, applied to the iron ornament at the time the theater was nearing completion in 1925. i'm truly amazed that the seat end wasn't altered (i.e., painted over) - and the fact that the paint colors are still incredibly vibrant with very little wear, rust, and discoloration evident is something that needed to be shared with those who appreciate this sort of thing.

the gargantuan uptown theater or movie palace was designed by the architectural firm of rapp and rapp and constructed in 1925 - the last of the "big three" movie palaces built by the chicago-based balaban & katz theatre chain. the uptown is widely considered to be the largest movie palace in the country (including radio city hall in new york) with a total of 4,381 seats and over 46,000 sq. feet of space. the theater has been closed since 1981.

photograph courtesy of bldg. 51 museum

the following images were taken from one of my studio photo-sessions focusing on cataloging various theater artifacts for the upcoming exhibit. the series of photographs provide a detailed visual record of a single, well-maintained uptown theater seat end, from both the front and back side.