salvaged cast plaster ornament from bedroom of louis h. sullivan's house joins bldg. 51 museum collection

an original interior cast plaster cove molding fragment salvaged from adler and sullivan's albert sullivan house (1892) is one of the first historically important bldg. 51 museum acquisitions in 2019. the double-sided plaster ornament was located in the 2nd story bedroom where louis sullivan slept when he lived in the house between 1892-1896. the plaster ornament was a recast originally used on the firm's 1893 world's fair transportation building.

additional plaster and limestone ornament tied to the transportation building was used elsewhere in the house, including the richly ornamented carved bedford limestone lunette located above the entrance door. an oversized section of cove molding from the vestibule was acquired by the bld. 51 museum last year (see post under further reading). the ornament, including large sections of the stone facade were painstakingly removed by richard nickel during its untimely demolition in 1970. images documenting the salvage operation and demolition are located under the "further reading" section of the blog post. 

richard nickel image of architect louis sullivan's bedroom, where he slept from 1892-1896. the albert sullivan house, built for his mother in 1892, was occupied by the architect during the peak of his career with dankmar adler - the adler and sullivan firm operated from the top two stories of the auditorium building's tower, which they designed in 1889. 

nickel's image shows the room as it appeared in 1970, shortly before the house was demolished. thankfully nickel and brother donald salvaged its ornament, including large sections of the facade for siue.the heavily painted ornament below the ceiling is comprised of cast plaster originally painted a mint green. sullivan, who at the time was working on adler and sullivan's world's fair transportation building, had sections of the building's exterior ornament recast and installed in his home, including the border in his bedroom, a lion's face on the first floor, cove molding in the vestibule, and a bedford limestone lunette located on the exterior above the entrance (the latter used design elements from the building as opposed to being a recast.
i've included a section of original plaster ornament salvaged from his bedroom, consisting repeating beaded border, thistle, and scrolls.

courtesy of bldg. 51 museum collection and ryerson and burnham, art institute of chicago.

further reading:

undated images of young boys on stoop of adler ad sullivan's albert sullivan house (sullivan himself, lived there from 1892-1896). the south side chicago two-story bedford limestone house, with exterior and interior ornament borrowed from the firm's world's fair transportation building, was built for sullivan's mother, but she died before it was completed. 
the house was demolished in 1970 with the ornament, including large portions of the facade salvaged by richard nickel and his brother donald. the photo may have been taken by bob furhhoff, who helped salvaged interior plaster ornament.

courtesy of the ryerson and burnham, art institute of chicago.

seldom seen albumen photographic prints of adler & sullivan's transportation building (completed 1892), including a print showing building under construction. possibly photographed by charles d. arnold. 
i've included images of a world's fair transportation building border fragment that was recast and installed as crown molding in louis sullivan's bedroom, when he lived in adler and sullivan's albert sullivan residence completed in 1892. additional plaster ornament and the exterior limestone lunette above door were also borrowed from the transportation building. 

images are courtesy of the ryerson and burnham library, art institute of chicago. ornament courtesy of bldg. 521 museum collection.

CAST PLASTER COVE MOLDING FROM LOUIS SULLIVAN-DESIGNED ALBERT SULLIVAN RESIDENCE JOINS BLDG. 51 MUSEUM COLLECTION

DESIGN ELEMENTS FROM ADLER & SULLIVAN'S TRANSPORTATION BUILDING PRESERVED THROUGH ALBERT SULLIVAN HOUSE DEMOLITION