returning to richard nickel's architectural ornament collection housed at edwardsville's library and offsite facility

during a recent trip to st. louis accompanied by john vinci and tim samuelson, we made a visit to edwardsville, where richard nickel's architectural ornament collection is housed. nickel sold his original collection - where he amassed early adler and sullivan ornament during chicago's land clearance project in the late 1950s under the guidance of jack randall for 12,000 in 1966, but continued to salvage ornament for the university until his untimely death in 1972.

the present day collection consists of a small permanent display in lovejoy library, with the bulk of materials housed off-site nearby. the majority of the images revolve around materials in the off-site facility, where the presence of nickel was a little overwhelming to say the least. due to limited time, lighting conditions, and existing layout, it was hard to document the ornament in a presentable manner.

it was most satisfying and a bit overwhelming to finally see nickel's collection in its entirety. his seemingly unstoppable relentlessness to salvage ornament at any cost really struck me as i wandered through the aisles surveying a sea of shelving units filled artifacts possessing narratives waiting to be told.

images taken in off-site storage facility:

images taken in lovejoy library:

further reading:

VISITING RICHARD NICKEL'S ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENT COLLECTION AT LOVEJOY LIBRARY WITH JOHN VINCI

SALVAGING TERRA COTTA ORNAMENT FROM ADLER AND SULLIVAN'S 1883 HAMMOND LIBRARY DURING ITS DEMOLITION IN 1963