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william l. steele-designed speckled glazed "sullivanesque" exterior building terra cotta ornament with distinctive v-shape

BLDG. 51 MUSEUM COLLECTION

In stock

SKU

UR-33170-21

unusual exterior building facade speckle glazed terra cotta panel salvaged from a building attributed to architect william l. steel. the centrally located distinctive v-shaped design, accentuated with floral motifs and berries is similar to george grant elmslie's work.

the fabricator was likely midland or the american terra cotta company of chicago.

william labarthe steele worked in the office of renowned architect louis sullivan. he settled in sioux city, iowa in 1904 and did most of his work there, later moving to omaha, nebraska in 1929. over his career he designed over 250 built commercial buildings, churches, synagogues, homes, schools, and government buildings in iowa, nebraska, south dakota, and minnesota.

the woodbury county courthouse in sioux city, iowa is considered his masterpiece, and is arguably the premier example of prairie school aesthetics in the context of a public space. he collaborated with minneapolis architects george grant elmslie, who was the principal designer, and william gray purcell. like steele, purcell had worked briefly for louis sullivan, but elmslie had been sullivan's chief assistant after sullivan dismissed frank lloyd wright in 1893 until elmslie departed in 1909 to join purcell & elmslie.

ornament courtesy of the bldg. 51 archive.

measures app. 14 x 8 x 1"