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single completely intact early 1920's interior church building theater style ornamental cast iron seat ends designed and fabricated by the heywood-wakefield co., menominee, mi. the theater style seat end was salvaged from the historically-important gethsemane missionary baptist church, located in the maxwell neighborhood of chicago. the seating was likely installed in the late 1920's. the original plush cushions with colorful mohair cloth was very much intact and in great shape, considering age. the seat end contains a uniform brushed mental finish sealed with a clear coat lacquer. there is a strong possibility that the seating was a "transplant" from a chicago theater being renovated or demolished around the time of installation (hence, the metallic gold finish). perhaps when the seats were brought over to the church they were painted and reupholstered (there are actually two mohair cloth covers with distinct patterns). despite being largely intact, there was significant mold on the seating. the seat end contains two opposed female heads with flowing hair, flanking the centrally located panel featuring a centrally located embossed cornucopia. the original solid birch wood armrest is intact and tightly affixed to the seat end. several matching left and right seat ends available. the two and a half story pre-fire chicago brick building located at 1352 s. union street is one of the few buildings left standing after the wrecking ball, driven by urban renewal, destroyed nearly all of the maxwell street neighborhood in chicago. constructed as a private, german-speaking high school in 1869 (also served the neighboring zion evenagelical church - since demolished), it later became home to a romanian synagogue, an african-american church, and then briefly an arts center. designed by german architect augustus bauer (st. patrick’s church, tree studios), the german school (the city's first) is the only surviving example of bauer's work as a solo architect. the non-religious school was built of brick and stone with an interior containing six great recitation rooms. a small time capsule was placed inside a small vault within the original building cornerstone. by the turn of the century a romanian jewish congregation moved in, and converted the building into a synagogue in 1905. when the jewish congregation later moved to west to lawndale, the building became gethsemane missionary baptist church (established in 1935) with an african american congregation lead by reverend a. sharp. several alterations to the interior and exterior were made during this time, which included an apartment constructed in the rear of the building (1944) for reverend sharp to occupy, along with a newly-built facade in completed in 1945. the building remained in use as the gethsemane missionary baptist until 2002 as the last remaining protestant church in the maxwell street district. in addition, the church is the only extant building in the area that survived the great chicago fire of 1871 (and one of only 112 documented, pre-fire buildings still standing in chicago today) as of 2008, the church building has sat vacant. the seat ends are priced individually. each painted cast iron theater seat end measures 12 inches x 2 1/4 inches x 24 inches. brushed metal variations available upon request.
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one of several matching original and intact brushed metal cast iron gethsemane missionary baptist church building figural theater seat ends with hardwood armrests
SKU:
UR-26781-17
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