Vertical gouache [method of painting using opaque pigments ground in water and thickened with a gluelike substance] of a lighting fixture in golden brass and red. Three gold ropes hold a tiered chandelier composed of lined columns interspersed with flowing cut-outs of rooted, ornamental vines, revealing a brilliant red interior. There are three stepped levels at the top of the chandelier, with a single column protruding from the bottom and capped with a decorative, crown finial. The object appears to glow from the drawing. Seen from above and below, the chandelier is octagonal in shape with a rectangular center, as faintly depicted on the right side of the main drawing at the top and bottom of the drawing. Annotations of scale, plan, and object number 'A66795' are neatly printed in standard capital letters for architectural drafting. The drawing, showing tears at each corner, is framed by a black taped border and frame.

See more objects with the tag lighting, interior design, chandeliers, Radio City Music Hall.

Object Timeline

	We acquired this object.
1927	Work on this object began.
2017	We photographed this object. We exhibited this object.
2024	You found it!

Object ID #890290257

This is a Drawing.

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives as part of The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

It is dated 1927. Its medium is gouache on paper. It is a part of the Smithsonian Libraries department.

Ralph Walker of the architecture firm McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin, shaped New York’s skyline during the 1920s in New York City’s downtown financial district. The 32-floor building is considered to be the first art deco skyscraper and expressed the new industrial age and machine aesthetic. Walker designed a series of brass lighting fixtures for the lobby that hang below the mural ceiling decorations. The New York Telephone Company, whose headquarters were housed in the Barclay-Vesey building, commissioned the fixtures for the lobby.

It is credited Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library.

A drawing of an ornate, red and gold Mayan-inspired stepped design for a bracket lighting fixture. The shape takes the form of an upward pointing arrow, with a triangle shape at the top made up of thirteen cream oblong shapes, elaborately decorated in gold geometric patterns, set against a striped ruby red panel. In the center of the triangle, where the stem extends downwards, is a gold rectangular shape with a face at the top wearing three gold feathers that spill out above the bottom line. Two of the oblong shapes, one in from each edge of the bottom line of the triangle, are further decorated with long gold scrolls that hang downwards. In the center of the triangle a long stem flows downwards, formed from three cream oblong shapes decorated in gold, and set against thicker ruby red paneling. The downward stem is crossed with two horizontal lines, one at the center and one at the bottom, formed from two and four cream oblong shapes decorated with gold. At the very bottom of the stem is a gold heraldic head, with ruby red feathered details. The fixture is set aginst a cream brick wall. A side view sketch and annotations in graphite can be found on the left and at the bottom.

Object ID #890290255
gouache on paper.
Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library.
43.2016.3

Object ID #890290261
gouache on paper.
Smithsonian Libraries, Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Library.
43.2016.6

Mural, The World of Radio
cotton.
Gift of Nicholas Meredith Turner in memory of Jessica Dragonette..
1983-73-1

Its dimensions are

L x W (matted): 91.4 × 71.1 cm (36 × 28 in.) L x W: 88.9 × 45.4 cm (35 in. × 17 7/8 in.)

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition The Jazz Age: American Style in the 1920s.

Short URL http://cprhw.tt/o/2mEYh2/
Accession Number 43.2016.4
Object ID 890290257