ORNAMENTAL BRONZE AND MARBLE WORK 



TIIK beauty of combining bronze and marble 

 was known to the earliest workers in these 

 materials, extensive use being made of them 

 to enrich their temples of worship and the costly 

 palaces of their kings. 



Ancient records tell of the lavish use of bronze in 

 tin -( buildings, and the ruins of ancient cities still 

 show traces of this early magnificence in interior 

 decoration. 



That the art of bronze working should, so early 

 in the world's history, have attained such a high 

 degree of excellence is not to be wondered at con- 

 sidering that it is one of the earliest of the arts, the 

 age of bronze, in fact, beginning at a time that ante- 

 dates the record of authentic history, following the 

 age of stone, in which the history of primitive man is 

 veiled in mystery. 



It is only in recent years that ornamental bronze 

 has been made in this comparatively new country, 

 but we an- now surpassing the ancients in the splen- 

 dor of the interiors of our buildings as we have already 

 surpassed them in size; and the use of bron/.e for 



interior decoration is again finding due appreciation. 



Ill the l:ist decade especially the fines! ornamental 

 bron/c of domestic manufacture has lieeii u-ed. and 

 lavish use has also been made of fine marble. 



Nowhere, however, in recent work has greater 

 advantage been taken of the possibilities of the cn- 

 richnicnt of marble l>y the use of decorative bron/e 

 than in the Singer Building. It is in this use as well 

 as for the more strictly utilitarian features, such as 

 doors, railings, etc., that is found the great beauty 

 of the main corridor of this building. 



The marble, though beautiful in itself, is greatly 

 improved by combination with the bron/.e. and it is 

 the effect of this combination that has given this 

 corridor the distinction which places it a step in 

 advance of other fine interiors. 



Entrance to the corridor is through a bronze 

 doorway of graceful grille construction. The design 

 consists of bars and scrolls, the transom carrying a 

 clock framed in finely modeled ornamentation. The 

 doorway is ^ I- feet high by 13 feel wide, and contains 

 more than four tons of bronze. This bronze work 

 and all other ornamental bronze work in the building 

 is from the foundry of Jno. ll'ill.iuiiix. Ii/r., New York. 



On the marble columns and walls in the main 

 corridor there were used more than 3,600 lineal feel 

 of cast bronze ornamented molding, also eighty me- 

 dallions, each bearing the trade-mark of The Singer 

 ^ I a nufacturing Company. 



Other notable features are the bronze fourfold 

 elevator doors and transoms, main stair railings and 

 balcony, railings, doors to the office, two bracket 

 lanterns, one on either side of the main entrance, 

 brou/e master-clock on main stairs in lobby and the 

 bronze directory frames. Altogether, the firm of 

 Jno. Williams, I in-., has installed in this building more 

 than 7.3, o'OO pounds, or nearly 38 tons of ornamental 

 cast bronze. The intrinsic value of this metal is 

 enhanced many times by reason of the expensive 

 nature of the labor of artists and artisans expended 

 upon it in its manufacture. In work of this charac- 

 ter, before a pound is cast, costly models must be 

 made. The castings from these arc finished by hand 

 chasing and the parts are fitted together with an ex- 

 actitude not excelled in any other mechanical art, the 

 completed work being of the highest order of work- 

 manship. The color is of the rich natural hue of 

 bronze, no artificial coloring or "patinc" being used. 



This richness of color is due to the fact that the 



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