PLASTERING 



PLASTERING is the surface-forming part of 

 interior architecture. It is the refined and 

 finished work which completes the expression 

 of the art of the architect. In the almost limitless 

 wall areas it serves the ends of utility, while in the 

 decorations and beautiful architectural enrichments 

 fa service is wholly ornamental. Ranging from the 

 plain surfaces, either of plate glass smoothness, sand 

 or stone finish, throughout all the various moldings, 

 paneling*, embellishments and decorative pieces of 

 minute detail to the magnificent ornamental domes 

 of the grand entrance corridor, it is the plastering 

 that e\ cry where meets the eye of the owner, the 

 tenant, and the visitor, and the impression is favora 

 ble, pleasing, or disturbing, according to the quality 

 and perfection of the workmanship. The Singer 

 Huilding has no more conspicuous or attractive feat- 

 ure than is found in the great work of the plain and 

 decorative plastering. 



//. II '. Miller, Inc., executed all of the plain and 

 ornamental plastering of the Singer Building. Tin- 

 highest class and finest quality of materials were used 

 in every part of the work. Mechanics of long ex- 

 perience and special skill were employed to do the 

 work. A selected staff of French and German expert 

 modelers and artists put into lasting form the beauti- 

 ful decorative and ornamental designs of the archi- 

 tect. The work was begun in November, 1907, and 

 u.is completed in June, 1908. 



The hard setting base, or first coating, amounted 

 in area to 700,000 feet, and over 5,000,000 pounds of 

 prepared King's Windsor Cement Plastering were 

 used in the work. Upward of 200 tons of other ma- 

 terials were used in the various finishing coats, such 

 U Keene's Cement, Portland Cement and Rockland- 

 Rockport Lime. The cement base is 8 miles in 

 length and there are 2 miles of molded cornice in the 

 corridors. 



The partitions and f urred walls of this great build- 

 ing required 256,000 square feet of metal laths, to sup- 

 port which were used 50 miles of structural angle iron, 

 130 miles of wire and 1 10,000 bolts. The metal bead- 

 ing, used to protect the corners, if laid in a straight 

 line would extend over 155,000 feet, or nearly 30 

 miles. 



Hundreds of barrels and 50,000 bags were re- 

 quired to hold the great mass of plastering material 

 while being transported to the building, and the 

 days' time of the skilled workmen employed in the 



execution of the work and paid at the rate of *.">. ."ill 

 for the eight-hour day, amounted to seventeen years. 



The accompanying illustration is a photograph 

 of a jMirtion of the arched and domed ceiling of the 

 main entrance corridor. There are nineteen of these 

 great ornamental plaster domes resting upon decora- 

 tive plaster arches, supported by square marble 

 columns with bronze capitals and bron/e moldings; 

 the columns being 12 feet from center to center 

 each way. The decorative arches and ornamental 

 domes were executed in the style of the French 

 Renaissance, and are rich in detail and artistic em- 

 bellishment. The grouping of the stately columns, 

 the artistic tfcste and rare beauty of the ornamenta- 

 tion, and the perfection and refinement of the molded 

 plaster arches and domes make this grand corridor 

 Unquestionably the most beautiful and impressive 

 ever erected in a great commercial building in the 

 City of New York. 



Another notable portion of the plastering is to 

 be found in the basement corridor leading to the heavy 

 armor-plate Safe Deposit Vaults. The finish here is 

 in artificial Caen Stone, of a soft, yellowish gray tint. 

 The work comprises massive columns. 11 feet in cir- 

 cumference, paneled walls and arched and domed ceil- 

 ings. Artificial ( 'aen Stone is an imported French ma- 

 terial, closely resembling the natural stone, to which it 

 is superior because of its hardness. The work through- 

 out gives the effect of massiveness and stability. 



Another conspicuous portion of the plastering 

 work occurs in the principal offices of The Singer 

 Manufacturing Company, comprising the .'53d, 31th 

 and 35th stories of the building. Here are orna- 

 mental plaster cornices, ornamental paneled ceilings 

 in plaster and ornamental paneled walls in Keene's 

 Cement, all molded and executed from special designs 

 by the architect. 



The work is not elaborate in detail, but substan- 

 tial and dignified in effect, and well adapted to the 

 purpose that is, the decoration and ornamentation 

 of the offices of a great manufacturing company. 



The members of //. ?!'. Miller, Inc.. and the 

 skilled mechanics and artists employed by them. 

 all heartily joined with the architect and owners in 

 a harmonious effort to reach the desired result a 

 completed piece of work of the highest excellence, 

 made of the most reliable and enduring materials and 

 executed in the most skillful and artistic manner 

 known to the trade. 



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