important john edelmann-designed residential carved wood building ornament joins bldg. 51 musuem archive

the bldg. 51 chicago building artifact museum just acquired an early john edelmann-designed hand carved walnut wood interior residential door surround block salvaged in 1959-60 from the levi strauss house (1860s, 1880 remodel). interior ornament - all designed by john edelmann during the 1880 remodel - was documented and salvaged by richard nickel, david norris, and john vinci. other examples can be found in private collections in and around chicago. 

john h. edelmann worked as an architect in the office of alfred zucker, a successful commercial architect of the 1880s and 1890s in new york city. as an architect, edelmann's sole surviving monument is the former headquarters of the decker brothers piano company, the decker building (1893), at 33 union square west, new york. louis sullivan was influenced by his work with edelmann and credits edelmann's concept of "suppressed function" with the inspiration for his maxim, "form follows function.”

before coming to new york, edelmann had worked as a draughtsman for the chicago architects william lebaron jenney and dankmar adler. it was edelmann who introduced the young louis sullivan to adler, with whom he formed a partnership. edelmann worked in the offices of alfred zucker from 1891 to 1893.

images courtesy of eric j. nordstrom, the bldg. 51 archive, and tim samuelson. all rights reserved. 2022.