Randall's Urban Architectural Sculptures

Per my post and photo- another is further down the page, I have been working on replicating this design and tonight I finalized the size of the model. The original panels on the Nortown theater were 30-1/2″ by 21″, this is pretty large and heavy, my clay model of this horizontal frieze panel will wind up a nominal 21-1/2″ by 14-1/4″ which is a far more practical size to display on today’s modern walls.

I ordered another half ton of clay to replenish my supply.

I expect to be working on the first of three new Nortown theater Art Deco panels next weekend for sure.

The first two casts are already spoken for.

I bought this unusual hand carved brownstone element tonight for my collection, I’ve seen it before but the price was considerably higher- $1700, now down to $550 and at that price I felt it was a good deal so I purchased it.

It has some weathering on the sides of the vertical pilaster section in the back, this is spalling from rain freezing- that was one thing brownstone was notorious for early on from the beginning- the sedimentary sand formed the stone bed in layers like annual rings in trees, the stones tend to split along the layers when water soaks in and then freezes.

Many keystones in NYC made of brownstone can be seen lack a face- the face split off perpendicular to the facade, typically it started with damage to a masks’ nose which projected the furthest, and as the nose split and broke off more of the surface “rotted” or split away.

The damage depended on how the grain was oriented, whether there was a projecting cornice above, and the kind of carving it was, so some stones on buildings remained pristine while others rotted away like wood to detail-less chunks.

This particular carving above is 41″ high as it has a slender pilaster above the Griffin which forms a semi base for it, the pilaster section has an urn and typical Victorian flowers and vines motif.
The Griffin himself appears to be very well preserved, and is also unusual in that he has webbed feet rather than the typical lion paws and claws.
This element was certainly one of a mirror pair, each facing the opposite direction on top of a stoop leading to the front entrance of the building- one of these on either side of the door.
The other one of the pair is not mentioned, perhaps it was badly damaged or destroyed.

Ok, so call me crazy, but… it would still be very cool to have an antique tower clock, there’s actually THREE of them on Ebay amazingly enough, though the prices are way up there beyond even my extravagant budget- over four grand, and one of them is in Romania with $690 shipping.

I’ll have to keep an eye out and see what pops up, or as I’ve researched a bit lately, it’s quite possible to build one entirely from scratch, that is flat steel and brass plates machined into gears and pinions.

Here is a cast, made from a model by Randall, inspired by an original spandrel panel, this is the center of a 3 piece panel, my Nr 649-R