photographic study of late 19th and early 20th century chicago commerical building hardware housed in the bldg. 51 archive.

the image gallery offers a somewhat comprehensive visual representation of ornamental builders' hardware found in chicago's commerical buildings built between the 1880s to the depression. the majority of the hardware is custom-designed, often by the hand of the leading architect or architectural firm tied to the design and construction of the building. in other cases a building was outfitted with "stock" pattern - chosen from readly available period catalogs (e.g., yale & towne, p.f. corbin, sargent, etc.).

orr and lockett was one of the largest brokers or suppliers for hardware used in some of chicago's earliest downtown skyscrapers (ads and seldom seen interior half-tone image of their showroom below). when time permits, i will identify the hardware in terms of function, date, building it was removed from, designer and/or fabricator and materials, including original finishes, ansd so forth. 

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