66 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



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PEUl.MEN'T (JROUP, OVER MAIN ENTRANCES. 

 Reproduced from Sculptor's Model. 



ANIMAL SCULPTURES OF THE LION HOUSE 



WITH the erection of its first large 

 l)uilding' for animals — the Rep- 

 tile LLouse — the New York 

 Zoological Society adopted the 

 policy of employing realistic animal sculpt- 

 ures as leading embellishments. So far as we 

 are aware, this marks the beginning of a new 

 departure in architecture. The good example 

 of the Egyptians, in renderitig their architect- 

 ural sculptures of animals as nearly like life 

 as their sculptors could make them, seems 

 to have been abandoned. Having before 

 their eyes the fearful example of the lions of 

 the Alhambra, modern architects have elected 

 to shelter themselves behind grotesque fig- 

 ures in stone, which 

 were either above or 

 beneath criticism. 



To an indififerent 

 sculptor, and an archi- 

 tect who is powerless 

 to furnish a good 

 realistic model, a gro- 

 tesque lion, griffin, or 

 other reptilian "what- 

 is-it," is a safe alter- 

 native. To a layman. 

 the only possible ex- 

 cuse for an animal 

 monstrosity upon a 

 building is that it in- 

 dicates a desire for 

 the proper thing. To- 

 day, however, there is 

 absolutely no excuse 

 for the disfigurement 

 of fine buildings by 

 the display upon them 

 of apocryphal animals 



DESIGN FOR PANELS ON IHE WESTERN WALL. 

 Reproduced from Sculptor's Model. 

 Copyright, igo2, by Eli Harvey. 



in Stone or terra cotta. The visitor to the 

 South Kensington Museum notes with sur- 

 prise that the sculptured heads of animals on 

 the keystones and cornices of that magnificent 

 building represent only impossible monsters. 



In this connection, it is worthy of record 

 that one of the first public buildings in 

 America to be ornamented with realistic ani- 

 mal sculptures was the Lewis Brooks' Hall 

 of Science, at the University of Virginia, 

 erected in 1880, or thereabouts, from plans 

 furnished by Professor Henry A. Ward, of 

 Rochester. The exterior stone-work of this 

 building is ornamented with realistic animal 

 sculptures, chieflv representing the heads of 

 .\merican animals. 



In the ornamenta- 

 tion of the Lion 

 House, the applica- 

 tion of realistic ani- 

 mal sculptures, in 

 architecture, may al- 

 most be said to have 

 reached high - water 

 .nark. Besides two 

 sentinel lions at each 

 door of the main hall, 

 there are to be twen- 

 ty-four pieces of chis- 

 eled stone, and also 

 a cornice ornamented 

 with animal heads, 

 running the entire 

 length of the build- 

 ing, and across each 

 end. All these sculpt- 

 ures are by Mr. Eli 

 Harvey, and are quite 

 as realistic as if in- 



