The story of terra cotta
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Wright Printer and Publisher 1920 Copyright, 1920 by Walter Geer JAN 26 1920 ©Cl, A 5 5 0 5 2 7 ^5 / CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES First Employment of Terra Cotta — The Oldest Building Material — Greece and Rome — The Middle Ages — Italy — France — Germany — England — Modern Times . . . .11 CHAPTER II THE UNITED STATES The Columbus Church — Tiles in Pennsylvania — The Worcester Works — New York City — James Renwick — Richard Upjohn — Boston Museum of Arts — Made in England .... 29 CHAPTER III THE FIRST MANUFACTURERS Pelligrini and Castelberry — The Atlanta Com¬ pany — Victor H. Kriegshaber — A. Hall Works — The Perth Amboy Company — George P. Putnam’s History — Produce Exchange — Pompeian and Old Gold Work — White Terra Cotta — Glazes and Polychromes ... 41 CHAPTER IV THE BOSTON COMPANIES The Latin High School — Sanford E. Loring —. Boston Fire Brick Works — Harry A. Lewis — The Boston Company — George M. Fiske — James Taylor ....... 59 3 CONTENTS CHAPTER V TERRA COTTA IN NEW YORK The City Hall Park 1850 — The Old Brick Church — World Building — An Old Saying Verified — Increased Use of Terra Cotta — Braehm Resi¬ dence — Morse Building — Ravenswood Works — A. Hall Company — Potter Building — Tower Building — Historical Associations — The New York Company ...... 74 CHAPTER VI THE BROWN ASSOCIATIONS Perth Amboy and New York Offices — William C. Hall — First Brown Association — Offices and Representatives — Stephens, Armstrong and Conkling — Lease of A. Hall Works — Purchase of Boston Company — Second Brown Asso¬ ciation — Standard Company — White Com¬ pany ........ 95 CHAPTER VII THE ROMANCE OF A CONTRACT Commodore Vanderbilt — The Old Harlem Station — Madison Square Garden — Stanford White — Perth Amboy Bricks — Doctor Ruth — A Thea¬ tre Party and Supper — F. Hopkinson Smith — Hall Takes Notice — Perth Amboy Secures Contract — The Last Curtain .... 107 CHAPTER VIII THE MANHATTAN COMPANY Staten Island Company — George L. Record — Manhattan Material Company — Excelsior Company — William H. Powell — Conkling- Armstrong Company — New Jersey Company — Eckardt V. Eskesen — Atlantic Company — Corning Works . 121 4 CONTENTS CHAPTER IX PAGE THE TWENTIETH CENTURY Conferences atHall’s Residence — TerraCotta Man¬ ufacturers Association — South Amboy Com¬ pany — Maryland Company — O. W. Ketcham — Atlantic Combination — Federal Company — Proposed Publicity Bureau .... 143 chapter x THE CENTRAL COMPANIES The Louisville Works — J. N. Glover — Indian¬ apolis — Hovey and Nichols — Chicago Com¬ pany — Sanford E. Loring — James Taylor — True, Brunkhorst and Company — North¬ western Company — American Company — William D. Gates — Indianapolis Company — Winkle — St. Louis — Western — Midland — Denver — Kansas City . 153 CHAPTER XI TERRA COTTA IN CHICAGO Beginnings of a Great Industry — Sanford E. Lor¬ ing — James Taylor — John Brunkhorst — Gustav Hottinger — Henry Rohkam — John R. True — Fritz Wagner — The Northwestern Company . 168 CHAPTER XII THE PACIFIC COMPANIES Gladding, McBean and Company — Early Work — N. Clark and Sons — Denny-Renton Company — Northern Clay Company — Washington Company — Los Angeles Works . . . 186 5 CONTENTS CHAPTER XIII CERAMIC DEVELOPMENT Earliest History — The Spanish Moors — The Nor¬ mans — Della Robbia — Palissy— John G. Low — Perth Amboy Company — Parkhurst Church — American Company — Teco Ware. CHAPTER XIV ADVANTAGES OF TERRA COTTA Plasticity — Durability — Indestructibility — Light¬ ness — Economy — Color Effects chapter xv THE NATIONAL SOCIETY Its Origin — First Meeting — Objects — Members — Officers — Ceramic Department — Publications — Peter C. Olsen — Arthur Rogers. CHAPTER XVI THE SOCIETY MEMBERS Full List of Members — Histories of the Compa¬ nies — Present Officers — Prominent Buildings CHAPTER XVII FORMER MANUFACTURERS List of Companies — Their Histories — Officers — Buildings — Ultimate Fate .... CHAPTER XVIII WHO’S WHO IN TERRA COTTA Biographical Sketches of Men Now or Formerly Prominent in the Business — In Memoriam PAGE 199 216 233 243 258 268 6 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Portrait of Gustav Hottinger. Frontispiece Portrait of Victor H. Kriegshaber. • • 41^ Portrait of William C. Hall t • 48^ Portrait of Edward J. Hall , 48^ Portrait of George M. Fiske. 49" Portrait of George P. Putnam 49 View of City Hall Park 1850. 80 Portrait of Walter Geer , 88 Portrait of Walter Geer, Junior ON 00 Portrait of Richard F. Dalton 89 Portrait of Thomas F. Armstrong. 104^' Portrait of Ira L. Conkling 105- Portrait of L. B. Eskesen . . , 105 View of Madison Square Garden. • ) 113 Portrait of Karl Mathiasen 128 Portrait of Eckardt V. Eskesen 128 Portrait of Morris E. Gregory 129 Portrait of Peter C. Olsen 136 Portrait of Orman W. Ketcham 137- Portrait of William H. Powell 144 Portrait of Frank G. Evatt 145 Portrait of DeForest Grant 152^ Portrait of Robert F. Grady. 153 ^ 7 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Portrait of George P. Fackt ..... 160 Portrait of William D. Gates ..... 160 Portrait of William Timmerman ... . . 161 Portrait of Paul C. Baltz . 161 Portrait of Adolph F. Hottinger .... 168 Portrait of Henry Rohkam ..... 168 Portrait of Sherman Taylor ..... 169 Portrait of Harry J. Lucas ..... 169 Portrait of Charles Gladding ..... 186 Portrait of Peter McGill McBean .... 186 Portrait of Paul S. MacMichael .... 187 Portrait of Oswald Speir . 187 Portrait of George D. Clark , 190' Portrait of John F. Keenan . 191 View of Madison Square Presbyterian Church . 208 Portrait of Fritz Wagner . 216 Portrait of Walter E. Dennison .... 217 Portrait of Joseph Winkle . 232 Portrait of Christian Mathiasen .... 233 Portrait of William Mathiasen .... 233 Portrait of Victor Emile Piollet .... 240 8 \ TO THE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL TERRA COTTA SOCIETY THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY THEIR ASSOCIATE THE DEAN NEW YORK CITY JANUARY, I92O “And so I penned It down, until at last it came to be, For length and breadth, the bigness which you see.” Bunyan — Apology for his Book. THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA CHAPTER I ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES 0 tell the story of terra cotta through the ages is to narrate the history of civilization itself, for the authentic records of the use of burnt clay as a construc¬ tive and decorative material in architecture extend back to twenty centuries before the Christian era. The fact that in this practically imperishable material we have preserved to us more completely than in any other, the thoughts and works of artists in every age of the world, and in every country at any time civilized, from a period of almost fabulous 11 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA antiquity down to the present time, shows the immense field for inquiry into the uses and advantages of the artistic employment of burnt clay. It may seem a somewhat rash assertion, that the burnt clay of the ancients is identical in substance with the terra cotta of today, but such is the fact. Terra cotta is undoubtedly the oldest building material known to history, other than wood, and was probably employed in the making of domestic vessels before build¬ ing was known as an art. The term by which this material is tech¬ nically known, literally “cooked earth,” dates from the period of the Italian Renaissance, when terra cotta was first largely used for architectural purposes. But the material it¬ self, both in the form of bricks, and in the more elaborate constructive and decorative forms, was largely used by the earliest builders. The fact that clay when subjected to great heat would become a hard brittle substance must have been discovered in primitive times by the kindling of fires on clayey soil, and the utility of this substance for domestic and archi¬ tectural purposes have been suggested as the 12 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES result. The fragments from the ruins of the most ancient temples and palaces reveal its application for these purposes. In fact, terra cotta may be said to be prehistoric in its origin, for it is in some cases our only link with nations of the most remote antiquity. To terra cotta we owe nearly all the information we possess in regard to the most ancient states and em¬ pires; bank notes, deeds of property, private transactions, public records, still being found in a good state of preservation among the ruins of ancient Babylon and other great cities of the past. The public records of the Assyrians were kept minutely inscribed on cylinders and tablets of clay which were afterwards baked. These furnish complete materials for trans¬ cribing the history of those times. To these records, revealed by the researches of Layard, Rawlinson and others, we owe much of our knowledge of the ancient Assyrians, Chal¬ deans, and Egyptians. The historical re¬ searches with reference to the Jews have also been much assisted by the inscriptions found on earthen bowls taken from the ruins of Babylon. 13 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA It seems to us important to dwell somewhat on the historical aspect of this subject, before considering its modern development and uses, as so few seem to be aware that we are not dealing with a new substance, but rather with the oldest manufactured material to which we have historical references. Indeed, it may be well said that, so far from history perpetua¬ ting the records of terra cotta, terra cotta has perpetuated the records of history. Sun-dried and baked clay was employed by nearly all the great nations of antiquity in their earlier works. The granaries and store¬ houses of Egypt, the vast mounds of Nineveh and Babylon, the aqueducts and other remains of Roman times, testify how wide-spread was its use. Nor was it used merely as a building material. The clay cylinders of Nineveh have been the means of treasuring up the documen¬ tary records of a monarchy, of which other direct records have almost wholly perished; while our museums are full of wonderful evi¬ dences, in their collections of Etruscan vases, of the beautiful art, the refined taste, and the poetic imagination of this mysterious people, 14 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES whose very history is lost and whose race and era are disputed questions. All nations whose early history is known to us, Assyrians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Gauls, have left us records of their thoughts on terra cotta. The invention of the art of work¬ ing in terra cotta was claimed by the Corinth¬ ians, who are said to have exhibited in their city specimens of the first efforts in it from the hand of the celebrated potter Dibutades. In order to preserve the likeness of his daugh¬ ter’s lover, he moulded in terra cotta the shadow of his profile on the wall, and this pro¬ duction is said by Pliny to have been in exist¬ ence when the city was stormed by Mummius. The invention was also claimed by the Sa¬ mians, who maintained that Rhoecus and Theodorus, who were sculptors in bronze, and who flourished about 657 B. C., had first prac¬ ticed the art of modelling. As the early sculp¬ tors cast their bronzes solid, like the Egyptians, who are supposed to have been the fathers of the art, it is evident that modelling in clay must have preceded working in bronze. The Egyptians made small figures of terra 15 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA cotta covered with inscriptions. Referring to these portrait statues recently discovered in the secret recesses of the .tombs around the bases of the Pyramids, Fergusson says: “Noth¬ ing more wonderfully truthful and realistic has been done since that time, till the invention of photography ; and even that can hardly rep¬ resent a man with such unflattering truthful¬ ness as these old colored terra cotta portraits of the sleek rich men of the Pyramid period.” By the ancient Greeks and Romans, terra cotta was employed for an immense variety of purposes, from the commonest objects of everyday use to the most elaborate and am¬ bitious works of art, such as colossal statues and groups. Pausanias mentions having seen at Athens two remarkable terra cotta groups, represent¬ ing Theseus killing the robber Sciron, and Heos (Aurora) carrying off Kephalos. The celebrated painter Zeuxis was accustomed to model in terra cotta the subjects which he afterwards painted, and many of the artists of the later schools combined the plastic art with that of painting. The immense number 16 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES of terra cotta objects at Athens is alluded to by Demosthenes in his first Phillipic. The ancient Greeks and Romans seem to have appreciated the fact that stonework, as well as wood, needed protection from the weather, as is shown by the common practice of nailing slabs of terra cotta over the surface of both these materials. Many examples of this fashion can be found in Sicily and south¬ ern Italy. They occur at Olympia in the Treas¬ ury of Gela, and also in a temple at Selinus. The best example of this practice can be seen in the temple at Civita Lavinia, the remains of which belong to the sixth and the fourth cen¬ turies B. C. As in other branches of art, the Romans closely copied the Greeks in their wide employ¬ ment of terra cotta for statues, reliefs, and architectural ornaments. A large number of beautiful Graeco-Roman reliefs exist, many having designs evidently copied from earlier Greek sculpture. Berlin, the Louvre, the Brit¬ ish Museum, and many places in Italy, possess fine collections. Friezes, with beautiful re¬ liefs, twelve to eighteen inches deep, often 17 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA occur, little inferior in execution to the earlier Greek work. These terra cottas belong to the early period of the Empire. At the end of the first and in the earlier part of the second cen¬ tury, A. D., the use of terra cotta for architect¬ ural adornment was carried to a high point of perfection in Rome. Many buildings of the period have the most elaborate decoration, moulded in clay and fitted together with won¬ derful neatness. Not only enriched cornices and friezes were made of terra cotta, but even Corinthian columns, with their elaborate acanthus capitals. The best existing examples in Rome are the Amphitheatium Castrense, many tombs on the Via Latina, and the bar¬ racks of the Vllth Cohort of the Guards in the Trastevere. The Romans also largely employed terra cotta in mural decoration, both for the interior and exterior of their buildings, in the form of slabs, ornamented with reliefs, hung on the walls or around the cornices. That these re¬ liefs were pressed in moulds, similar to the modem practice, is shown by the frequent repetition of certain subjects with only slight 18 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES differences, evidently due to retouching before baking, hence the variations. Reliefs entirely modelled are much rarer, but some exist of considerable artistic feeling and freedom. Cir¬ cular holes are left in the slabs for the plugs by which they were attached in their places. These terra cottas range in color from a light buff to a dark red. It would require too much space to enum¬ erate all the various forms and subjects repre¬ sented in terra- cotta by the ancients. Some of the extensive uses to which it was put are thus summarized by Mr. Birch: “It supplied the most important parts both of public and pri¬ vate buildings, as the brick, roof-tiles, im¬ brices, drain-tiles, columns, and other archi¬ tectural members. It also served for pave¬ ments, and for the construction or lining of cisterns and aqueducts. Among its adapta¬ tions to religious purposes may be noticed the statues of the gods which stood in the temples, besides copies of them on a reduced scale, and an immense number of small votive figures. It also supplied the more trivial wants of every¬ day life, and served to make studs for the 19 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA dress, bases for spindles, tickets for the amphi¬ theatres, and prizes for victors in the games. Of it were made the vats or casks in which wine was made, preserved or exported, the pitchers in which it was served, and the cup out of which it was drunk, as well as all the various culinary and domestic utensils for which earthenware is used in modern times. It furnished the material for many small orna¬ ments, especially figures, which are often of a comic nature, and supplied the undertaker with bas-reliefs, vases, imitative jewelry, and the other furniture of the tomb.” The terra cotta industry extended from Rome to the provinces, and examples of local make have been found even in Britain, as at Colchester and London. In Gaul, in partic¬ ular, and in the Rhine district, there were very extensive manufactures of terra cotta after the conquest by Julius Caesar in 58 B. C. The principal centre of manufacture was the dis¬ trict of Allier in Central France, but the indus¬ try was carried on in Alsace and Belgium and along the Rhine. After the downfall of the Roman Empire 20 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES in the W est, the artistic use of terra cotta was abandoned for many centuries, though here and there both in Italy and in parts of France and Germany the manufacture was continued. The Middle Ages The true renaissance of the use of terra cotta came during the 14th and 15th centuries, when it was adapted in various parts of Eu¬ rope to the most magnificent and elaborate architectural purposes. In northern Italy this use of terra cotta was carried to a very high point of perfection. The western facade of the Cathedral of Monza is a work of the most wonderful richness and minute elaboration, wholly executed in clay in the latter part of the 14th century. The Cathedral of Crema, the communal buildings of Piacenza, and S. Maria delle Grazie in Milan, are striking ex¬ amples of the extreme splendor of effect that can be obtained by terra cotta work. The Certosa, near Pavia, is a gorgeous specimen of the early work of the 16th century: the two 21 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA cloisters are especially magnificent. Pavia itself is very rich in terra cotta decoration, notably the ducal palace and the churches of S. Francesco and S. Maria del Carmine. Some delicate work also exists among the medieval buildings of Rome, dating from the 14th and 16th centuries, as for example the rich cor¬ nices on the south aisle of S. Maria in Ara Coeli (1300); the front of S. Cosimato in Trastevere built 1490 ; and a once very magni¬ ficent house, near the Via di Tordinone, which dates from the 14th century. To this period belong the products of that most famous of all workers in clay, Luca della Robbia. No sculptured work of the great 15th century ever surpassed the Singing Gallery made by him for the Cathedral of Florence, somewhere between 1430 and 1440. The works of Luca della Robbia, while not strictly terra cottas, in the modern acceptation of the term, are among the most valuable examples of the use of burned clay in architectural deco¬ ration. From the time of Luca della Robbia, ceramic ornaments invariably entered into de¬ signs for buildings. It was then that the art 22 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES of terra cotta most flourished in Italy; and it is from the productions of this period that much of the inspiration of modern designs has been drawn, especially in those structures erected prior to the middle of the last century. West of the Alps, clay was not so much used for building or decorative purposes. Never¬ theless, in the south of France, in Toulouse, remarkable examples exist. On the Rhone, carved tiles are to be found in very elaborate cornices and balustrades. In the north of Ger¬ many, in Brandenburg, Luneburg, Hanover, and the provinces on the Baltic, brick and ornamental terra cotta were largely used in preference to stone, not only for exterior work, but also for the interior of churches, halls, and private dwellings, even the lofty piers of the cathedrals being moulded in clay. The mark of Brandenburg is especially rich in terra cotta work. The Church of St. Cath¬ erine, in the city of Brandenburg, is decorated in the most lavish way with delicate tracery and elaborate string courses, and cornices en¬ riched with foliage, all modelled in clay. The Town Hall is another instance of the same use 23 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA of terra cotta. At Tangermiinde, the Church of St. Stephen and other buildings of the be¬ ginning of the 15th century are wonderful examples of this method of decoration: the north door of St. Stephen's especially is a mas¬ terpiece of rich and effective moulding. From these two centres the development of architectural terra cotta gradually spread over western Europe. The German school in¬ fluenced the work done in the Low Countries and finally in England, where it also met the direct influence of the Italian School due to the invasion of England by Italian artists who were invited there during the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. Examples of the terra cotta work of this period are found only in the eastern and southern counties, and it is prob¬ able that much of this work was imported from Holland or Flanders, as it is distinctly Dutch in style. Essex possesses the finest examples, such as those to be found in the Manor House at Layer Marney and a richly decorated terra cotta tomb in the church at the same place, both dating from the reign of Henry VIII. The introduction of the Tudor style gave 24 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES an impetus to the use of brick, moulded brick and terra cotta, and during the 16th century many large mansions were erected in Eng¬ land of brick, having moulded brick cornices and terra cotta trimmings. It is said that Hol¬ bein promoted the use of moulded brick and terra cotta, towards the end of the Tudor period. The friezes, cornices, and other high¬ ly ornamental work in terra cotta, of the Manor House at East Barsham, and the Par¬ sonage House at Great Snoring, both in Nor¬ folk, erected during the reign of Henry VIII, are worthy of particular notice, and the use of terra cotta for decorative panels and bas- reliefs appears to have been popular during this time. The gateway of York Palace, White¬ hall, designed by Holbein, was decorated with four circular terra cotta panels, which are still preserved. The unsettlement which followed the Ref¬ ormation in England, and which continued during the Stuart period, seems to have put an end to this imported art, and it is not until modern times that we find a revival of archi¬ tectural terra cotta in England. 25 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA Another offshoot from the fertile plains of northern Italy was implanted in France during the 16th century. Many Italian artists were attracted to France by Francis I and his suc¬ cessors, and among other arts they introduced the making of architectural terra cotta. The most famous name in the list of these Italian artists is that of Girolamo della Robbia, of the famous family of that name, who executed for Francis I, at Paris, in 1529, the enamelled terra cotta for the decoration of the “Petit Chateau de Madrid” in the Bois de Boulogne. This last and most extensive work in terra cotta executed by the Robbia family was de¬ stroyed in 1792 during the French Revolution, but exact drawings showing all the details are still in existence. During the 17th and 18th centuries there was a revival of the art in England, and many choice works were executed in terra cotta. In many parts of London, mouldings and cornices of this date can still be found. About the middle of the 18th century Josiah Wedgwood began his career in the making of terra cotta vases and other wares. 26 ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL TIMES About 1790, works were established at Lam¬ beth, near London, by a lady of the name of Coade, for making terra cotta and architec¬ tural details, statues and vases. These works were in existence until about seventy years ago, when they were closed. Many of the leading sculptors who ranked high in the pro¬ fession in the earlier days of the last century were employed at Coade’s, and the durability of its productions can be attested by numer¬ ous examples. The capitals and other work in the oldest part of Buckingham Palace were made there, and although the stone work of the palace on all sides shows great signs of decay, the terra cotta Corinthian capitals are as sharp as when they left the kiln. Early in the last century other manufac¬ turers began to establish themselves in compe¬ tition with Coade’s. One of the most impor¬ tant of these was the plant of John M. Blash- field, established in 1839 at Canford in Dor¬ setshire. In 1848, he moved his works to Mil- wall near London. Ten years later, in 1858, under the patronage of the Marquis of Exeter, he moved his plant to Stamford in Lincoln- 27 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA shire in order to develop clay deposits in that location belonging to the Marquis. Among the best modern examples of the extensive use of terra cotta, may be mentioned the South Kensington Museum, from designs by Gilbert Scott, architect, the Dulwich Col¬ lege, by Charles Barry, and the great Albert Hall, by Gilbert Redgrave — all admirable ex¬ amples of the attractive effect produced by the judicious blending of brick and terra cotta in architecture. 28 CHAPTER II THE UNITED STATES NE of the oldest terra cotta build¬ ings in this country, of which there is any authentic record, is a church located on the north¬ east corner of 6th and State Streets in Columbus, Ohio. The attention of Samuel B. Orth was called to this build¬ ing in July, 1919, by Harry C. Holbrook, an architect of Columbus. The church is trimmed with brown-stone colored terra cotta which was shipped from England in a wooden sailing vessel about seventy years ago. The terra cotta is still in excellent condition. Mr. Holbrook said that most people thought it was cast iron, and that he himself thought so until 29 the story of terra cotta recently, when he examined it more carefully. He asked Orth to make a special effort to see this church, which he did, and found it to be a rough stone building with very well pre¬ served terra cotta trimmings. Orth writes : “The lengths of the pieces, compared with their widths, are in excess of those which we are making these days. Some of the label mouldings which are only six or seven inches in width are approximately 2 feet 6 inches long, with about the same bond, and the jambs are exceptionally long for the width and as straight as a die. The lower portion, which could be reached with an ordinary ladder, has been painted, but that above let go. The style is Anglo-Norman, with round and square bil¬ let mouldings, and some dog-tooth, with orna¬ mental columns, including cap, shaft and base. Characteristic to the style, there are also gro¬ tesque corbels and very heavy plain set-offs to butresses.” Flat terra cotta roofing tiles were made to a considerable extent in certain parts of this country, particularly in the German settle¬ ments of Eastern Pennsylvania, as early as the 18th century, and were commonly used on smith-shops and out-buildings, but rarely on 30 THE UNITED STATES dwellings. The art was brought from Ger¬ many, where the same methods of manufac¬ ture are, to some extent, still practiced. At Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the Moravians made similar tiles from 1740, or earlier, until well into the last century. At many small pot¬ teries in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, terra cotta roofing tiles have been made for up¬ wards of a hundred and fifty years, and on an old smithy near the village of Bird-in-hand one of the tiles which covered the roof bears the date “1769,” which covers the entire sur¬ face, having been traced in the moist clay by the finger of the workman. Such tiles have been found in the debris of an old smith-shop, which was built in 1709, at Cope’s Bridge, on the Brandywine, near West Chester, Pennsyl¬ vania, which, while probably made by an Eng¬ lish Quaker, are of the usual German form. Throughout the greater portion of Eastern Pennsylvania the flat tile is found. About the year 1840 an attempt was made to produce architectural terra cotta at Wor¬ cester, Massachusetts. The clay used was of 31 THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA a buff color, and the work was well burned. The terra cotta, however, did not go on its own merits as a material but had its surface covered with paint, and passed for stone or iron, as might suit the fancy or caprice of the pur¬ chaser. Many good specimens of the terra cotta made at this time can still be seen in the larger cities of Massachusetts and the adjacent New England States. For example, the columns of the State Capitol at Boston have capitals of terra cotta made at the Worcester Works, and the windows of Pine Street Church are also decorated with the same material. Several residences also have terra cotta lintels, and pediments over the entrances and windows, made of terra cotta of about that period, but all the work is painted and sanded to imitate brown-stone and would hardly be taken for terra cotta by the casual passer-by. There is no record of the manufacture of architectural terra cotta in New York until the year 1853, when an attempt was made to intro¬ duce it by James Renwick, the well-known 32 THE UNITED STATES architect of Grace Church and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York City. Mr. Renwick was the son of James Ren- wick, a distinguished professor of chemistry at Columbia College, whose mother, Jean Jef¬ frey, of Lochmaben, a famous Scottish beauty, was the “Blue-Eyed Lassie” of Robert Burns’s poem: “ ’Twas not her golden ringlets bright, Her lips like roses wat wi’ dew, Her heaving bosom lily-white : It was her een sae bonie blue.” The Renwick family, early in the last cen¬ tury, lived at the corner of Cortlandt Street and Broadway, but later moved to the suburb of Bloomingdale, now a part of the city, where James Renwick was born in 1818. In sketching the history of this first attempt to use terra cotta in New York, Mr. Renwick wrote Mr. Orlando B. Potter in 1886, as fol¬ lows: “In 1853, 1 conceived the idea of introducing terra cotta as a building material and substi¬ tute for cut stone work in New York. I went to a Mr. Young, who had a factory for making 33 / THE STORY OF TERRA COTTA glazed and other earthen sewer pipe, in 40th Street, and told him what I proposed doing, and asked him if he would manufacture it from my designs and under my supervision. I sup¬ posed it would be a source of large profits to him, as it would be more durable and orna¬ mental, and less expensive, than the freestones which were then in use. I made a contract with him for the belt courses and the cornice of the Tontine Building, and for the ornamen¬ tal work of the St. Denis Hotel, at 11th Street and Broadway, and for three houses in 9th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. All these buildings are now standing, and the terra cotta is as good as when first put up. We tried to introduce it into general use, but were violently opposed by the stone cutters and builders who said that it would not stand and persuaded owners not to use it. “The only other building it was used in, so far as I know, was in the court of the La Farge House. This building was destroyed 8 Janu¬ ary, 1854, by a fire which originated in Tripler Hall, which was in the rear and part of the hotel. These two buildings were on the west side of Broadway nearly opposite Bond Street. Tripler Hall was built in 1850 for the Ameri¬ can debut of Jenny Lind, but as it was not 34 THE UNITED STATES finished in time she made her first appearance in September of that year at Castle Garden. It was the scene, however, of the debut of a still more famous artiste, Adelina Patti, 22 September, 1853, who was then a child of ten years. The Broadway Central Hotel, origin¬ ally named the Grand Central, was erected on the site of the La Farge House, and in its day was considered one of the finest hotel struc¬ tures in the country. It was the scene of the shooting of Jim Fisk by Ned Stokes in 1872. 