five images of ornament extracted from historically important buildings

louis frank house cast plaster ceiling medallion detail. the escutcheon was used in other adler and sullivan residential commissions. the 1884 plaster ornament was likely executed by sculptor james legge. l.h. sullivan's ornament during this time was influenced by mentor john edelmann. multiple medallions exist, salvaged by richard nickel, john vinci, david norris, robert furhoff, and others.

strongly geometric cast plaster schiller or garrick double-sided border ornament, likely designed by frank lloyd wright, who at the time, was chief dratsman for the office of adler and sullivan. the schiller, constructed in 1891, was demolished in 1960. richard nickel, john vinci, and david norris spent months salvaging any and all ornament with the help of atlas wrecking.

partially stripped cast plaster fragment, salvaged from a richly ornamented column capital located in the lobby of michael reese hospital. "old main" was built by the architectural firm of schmidt, garden, and martin. the building ornament was designed by hugh garden, who briefly worked for louis sullivan and other prairie school architects. reese hospital was demolished in 2010. the fragment awaits extensive paint analysis.

louis h. sullivan-designed wall sconce canopy removed from the chicago stock exchange building (1894) during building alterations by frost and granger in 1908. the canopy is apart of a double arm sconce - one of two recently discovered in 2016. nearly all of the building's original light fixtures were removed long ago. the sconces were located in and around the trading room. the stock exchange was destroyed in 1972.

three matching cast iron fragments designed by louis h. sullivan for the s.a. maxwell building (1881). two exterior cast iron columns flanking the building's entrance were adorned with rows of these richly organic iron sections - affixed with two threaded screws. the columns were removed during an alteration to the building's storefront in the 1950's. during this time the two columns were relegated to the basement. one column made its way to the smithsonian, while the other was taken apart by richard nickel. the ornament was distributed to any and all interested parties. the exact fabricator is not known. again, sullivan's design was influenced by mentor john edelmann.