putting louis h. sullivan's gage building (1898) terra cotta facade back together again

i made a point to stop by the gage building the other day, while i was in the neighborhood doing a systematic photo shoot of the s.a. maxwell lofts building's exterior ornament from sidewalk to roofline (1881, dankmark adler & louis h. sullivan, architects). when i made my way to gage, i noticed that the empty cavity above the building's sidewalk scaffolding, formerly where one of two opposed panels had been removed as i had previously documented, had been fitted with a newly fabricated replacement.

update: restoration of facade in full swing. image taken on 8-23-2017. courtesy of eric j. nordstrom and the bldg. 51 museum archive.

sections of the replicated cartouche have arrived in chicago. the fate of the original remains to be seen.

the newly created louis sullivan-designed terra cotta panel (fabricated by boston valley terra cotta) has been incorporated into the gage building's (1898) facade with the past few weeks. the original, sculpted by kristian schneider and executed by the northwestern terra cotta company, chicago, ills.

at the time of my visit to boston valley terra cotta earlier this year, this panel was still being sculpted - along with the larger cartouche. the latter piece still remains at boston valley for inspection before it will be shipped to chicago for installation. the owners of the building will likely do a side-by-side comparison of the two pieces to determine that the facsimile will be an adequate replacement for the original. despite being in contact with boston valley, i'm not certain whether the original cartouche will be packed and crated along with its replacement.

upon hearing that the newly fabricated cartouche is completed the other day, i'm strongly considering whether i should take another trip to buffalo to document both cartouches fully assembled, side-by-side, before they are pulled apart and shipped off. boston valley's cartouche will be likely be integrated into the gage's facade towards the end of summer, but the final destination of the original remains to be seen, which i find a little unsettling. 

more to follow in the coming weeks.