Reproduction of a stunning architectural sculpture.

From

Randall's Lost New York City Collection.

Photo of the original cast-iron corbel


Cast stone reproductions of this cast-iron corbel shown below in the Old Limestone Grey finish- other finishes available:

Measurements:

10" wide by 14" high, approximate weight: 25#

History of the building this, and other pieces came from

Samuel Dold Morgan and family moved to Nashville, TN in January, 1833, where Morgan became involved in dry goods and banking. Morgan was at once a merchant, architect and builder. His firm, Morgan and Company, was one of the largest wholesale importers of dry goods and a manufacturer of clothing; the business was sufficiently sound and respected to be permitted to issue script money during the Panic of January 30, 1844. He was appointed to the new commission charged with planning a new State Capitol, becoming its president in 1854; he was instrumental in choosing William Strickland of Philadelphia as the architect of this monumental structure.

In 1856, after the big Nashville fire, his firm built the Italinate styled Morgan-Reeves Building at 208-210 Public Square which survived until 1975 when it was demolished. This building was part of the Federal HABS (Historic American Buildings Survey) program which provided some limited employment to Archtectural students in need of work. The architectural students made detailed measured drawings and photos of numerous buildings around the country, as a result, this building appears in the Library of Congress archives for HABS and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) collections, Prints and Photographs Division;

Morgan-Reeves Building, 208-210 Public Square, Nashville, Davidson County, TN

Measured Drawing(s): 3
Photo(s): 3
Data Page(s): 7 plus cover page

CALL NUMBER: HABS, TENN,19-NASH,9-

Black and White images below,1970: The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) and the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) collections, Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.

BELOW:

Close crop enlargement, the red arrow shows the corbel, the blue arrow shows a window pediment bracket (also known as a console) which will ALSO be available in cast stone in a few weeks:

Original iron window pediment bracket, one of a pair I installed in my living room doorway:

During the Civil War Morgan engaged in manufacturing munitions for the Confederates, until Nashville's occupation by Union forces. He was also a Confederate official, serving as chairman of the Central Bureau of Military Supplies in Nashville during the War. He died an honored citizen of Tennessee, on June 10, 1880 and his remains were interred in the southeast corner of the State Capitol. Samuel Morgan was an uncle of General John Hunt Morgan of Alabama, who served with the Confederate Army and led "Morgan's Raiders." On June 10, 1980, the hundredth anniversary of Samuel Dole Morgan's death, a ceremony was held at the Tennessee Capitol Building in honor of Mr. Morgan. The State Legislature declared that day to be "Samuel Dold Morgan Day" (Senate Joint Resolution 351)

While it's obvious that Morgan had a full plate and was a historic figure in many ways, I discovered one business the historic records I found seemed to miss or not include as apparantly it wasn't "important", such as Mr Morgan's iron foundry as evidenced by ads like this one that he ran in January 1851 for his "Nashville Manufacturing Company" seeking emplyees for his new iron foundry to build steam engines, locomotives etc.

Since his Dry Goods store was built in 1856, it is virtually certain that all of the cast-iron elements on his building were designed and cast in his own foundry, that makes these more valuable and interesting as they are directly connected to this historic figure in more ways than one.

Most of the ironwork was saved in 1975 by a fellow who removed them during demolition and kept them in his garage intending to use them "some day" around his house, but sold off bits and pieces over the last 20 years. I happened to learn of the ironwork and purchased the last remaining pieces he had, including the wooden 208-210 sign over the door, and some incomplete Corinthian Capital acanthus leaves from the ground floor columns.

Covered with a good 1/4" thick blanket of old paint, including a layer of a sandy paint that was applied in one of the earliest paint jobs to resemble stone- it took considerable effort to remove it to bare metal, Zip-strip etc had little effect, in the end not wanting to damage the iron with sandblasting I used a lye solution dip tank.

Amazingly, all of this ironwork had been mounted on the building's facade with large wood screws and cut nails into heavy wood backer boards! The window pediment brackets weigh a little over 100# each while the acanthus leaves under the cornice average about 20# each.

The detailed high relief, hand hot-rivited ironwork on this building is an example of some of the finest mid-nineteenth century architectural metal work produced in America

The originals are now over 150 years old, having survived 120 years of those years in the elements and would still be there today had it not been for misguided urban renewal projects.

More photos appear here:

More

While NONE of these original pieces are for sale, you do have the ability to own a reproduction of one. The corbel shown here will be slightly modified to make it deeper to accept an attached oak top board for a shelf as an option. The corbel as can be seen below can be displayed in either position- normal on the wall, or reversed to sit on the floor in a corner for example:

Misc info

1. All of these sculptures have a wire embedded on the back to hang them on the wall.
2. As I own the original and the mold, I can produce any quantity of these.
3. Yes, I WILL ship to Canada, UK etc but I have to pre-warn you that shipping anything to the UK or overseas is very expensive!
4. Custom casting, YES, if you need a keystone or other piece I have to be installed in a brick wall or have some special configuration, just ASK!
5. YES, if you have an architectural piece you are willing to loan me to mold, I do trades.

NOTE: Shipping is NOT added to the PayPal shopping cart total, I will invoice separately or you may email and ask for a quote.

You may also pay via check or money order. These are priced at $58.00 plus shipping.

Questions on shipping cost, finishes etc? please copy the email address below and mail me for an immediate response;

Use this button to order, $58.00 shipping invoiced later:

Finish (standard is a satin black) select one.