Terra-cotta, the most enduring of all building materials, has been used to a greater or less extent from a high antiquity in continental Europe, and in England terra-cotta trimmings were used in building as early as the fifteenth century. In the United States this material does not seem to have been introduced until after 185o. Experiments were made in this direction in 1853 by Mr. James Renwick, a prominent New York architect, but the innovation was not received with favor by builders. In 187o the Chicago Terra-Cotta Company brought over from England Mr. James Taylor, superintendent of the well-known works which were established by Mr. J. M. Blashfield, in 1858. By the introduction of the English methods, the ChiCago estab lishment soon turned out better work than had been before produced in the United States.
The Perth Amboy Terra-Cotta Company was incorporated in 1879, and at once embarked in the manufacture of large de signs for architectural purposes from clay obtained from the neighboring deposits. The plant of this company has expanded so rapidly that at present it includes twenty-two kilns, some of them measuring forty-eight and one-third feet in height and twenty-four and one-sixth in diameter, (see frontispiece) which are said to be the largest of the kind on this continent, if not in the world.
The company has in its employ a number of eminent artists in this particular line, and has furnished terra-cotta details for many prominent buildings throughout the country. Of these we may mention Young Maennerchor Hall, Philadelphia ; Ponce de Leon Hotel, St. Angustine, Florida ; Biological Laboratory, Princeton College ; and Central School, Ironton, Ohio.
Since about 1880 the demand for architectural terra-cotta has rapidly increased, and to-day many manufactories are in operation in various parts of the country. In the latter part of 1885 the New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Company was organized, and the services of Mr. James Taylor secured as superintendent. The works at Long Island City have furnished designs for more than two thousand buildings, scattered throughout the principal cities of the Union. They have lately succeeded in producing a pure white terra-cotta, which is said to be fully equal to the red in durability and hardness, and they have used this latest invention, in combination with buff brick, in the rebuilding of Harrigan's Theatre, New York. The effect is novel and pleasing. Other architectural terra-cotta works have also been recently experimenting in the same di rection, and it is now only a question of a short time when the more perishable marble, as a building material, will be super seded by this more enduring substitute. Having eliminated
the red coloring matter from the composition, it would seem possible, by the introduction of other tints, to produce terra cotta in yellow, blue, or any shade desired. The possibilities in this direction appear almost limitless.
The Indianapolis Terra-Cotta Company, located at Bright wood, Ind., commenced business under its present management in 1886. Mr. Joseph Joiner, a gentleman of large experience in this field, and a highly qualified architect, superintends the manufacturing department.
In the same year, Messrs. Stephens & Leach started a factory for architectural terra-cotta in West Philadelphia, Penn. and later the firm name was changed to Stephens, Armstrong & Conkling, and later to Stephens & Co., which concern is now run as a branch of New York Architectural Terra-Cotta Co. During the nine years of the works' existence it has furnished material for hundreds of important structures in Philadelphia and other cities, of which particular mention may be made of panels and gable work in the library of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Drexel Institute, erected in West Philadelphia. A series of animal-head medallions, in high relief, are particularly excellent, and some bas-relief portraits of eminent men, mod eled by such sculptors as H. J. Ellicott, John Boyle, and E. N.
Conkling, are among their best productions. Specimens of the work of this company are shown in Figs. i66 to 172, and of the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Co., in Figs. 173 to 181. Admirable work is also being produced by other estab lishments in Boston, Chicago, and most of our larger cities.
The evidences of the material prosperity of this country are probably more fully displayed in its street architecture than in any other manner. With the marvelous increase in real estate values during the past twenty years, there has been a coincident growth in the size and decoration of its buildings. The con centration of commercial and social interests has created a de mand for vast structures ; the accretion of wealth has given the means to erect them ; the immense advance in the ability of iron workers has furnished the skeleton, while the clay workers have provided a large part of the material necessary to com plete the form. I* say a large part, for the student of architec tural design in this country will not only find that there are very few noticeable buildings anywhere which have been erected more than twenty years, but also that a very large pro portion of the structures which attract his attention are de pendent upon terra-cotta work for their enrichment.