I met a street scape photographer back in the late 80's taking large  
format pictures of carved images on row house and brownstones;as someone who  
notices these things I shared about certain addresses on Riverside ;West end 
ave  and up near 116 125 th st in Harlem .
The Book "over the door " is out at my man cave or the "deep woods "  
library; a place where I steam and tend to my orchids ( it used to be branch  
water and single malts but I had to give  that up)  
Since it is stated that all politics is local ; so goes it for stone 150  
years ago.; and certainly The Cathedral St John the Divine ; the limestone  
Hospital next to it ;(Morningside hosp ?) also  Columbia University ;  the 
grand apartments locally from riverside to Morningside ave were in a 50 year  
period all being built 
I do nt know how many masons were employed in this area at the time ;but at 
 the cathedral we found a 1904 (union) book that had over 400 masons then 
working  in the area .
In that number were certainly carvers ; and many shops took on side work  
just to keep these guys going .
Sculture over the doorways goes back to the earliest of times when spirits  
waked the earth and the veil was thin between  their world  and ours .Since 
insurance policys besides the mace and the morningstar had  not come into 
effect yet ;it paid to have a little extra protection over the  door; or 
standing at the gate ;as it were  
I have a large masonic lion at my gate for instance .
The Green man was popular so were the images of children ; so that they may 
 last in memory and spirit long after they were gone ////Py .
 
 
 
d the doorways ted 6/26/2011 1:59:57 A.M. Central Daylight Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:
 
There is  1 message totaling 110 lines in this issue.

Topics of the  day:

1. rowhouse ornament carving;  free-range,  dolphin-safe wax

--
**Please remember to trim posts, as requested in  the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation prattling  among pals and the 
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go  to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:   Sat, 25 Jun 2011 09:54:34 EDT
From:     [log in to unmask]
Subject: rowhouse ornament carving;  free-range,  dolphin-safe wax

We know next to nothing about the economics and  operations of the stone  
carving industry in the rowhouse  era.   Was the typical  
leafy-man-keystone of 
1885 carved  with steam power?  (Almost  cerrtainly.)   How did steam  
power 
change carving  techniques?   Just exactly what did a  steam powered 
carving 
tool - a  reciprocating hammer, probably - look  like?    What level of  
design drawings were  prepared?   By the architect?   Or did  the architect 
 just 
say "gimme a leafy lion, like the last job, but bigger, and   give it 
Springsteen's face"?    Many ornaments appear to be  quite  close - 
identical? - in 
execution;  did they use a  pantograph?    A stencil-type device?   Was any 
 
ornament ever carved on site, for  rowhouse-quality  projects?   Even in 
the 
earliest brownstone  days?   Limestone vs. brownstone - what are the 
working 
considerations for  the softer vs. the harder stone?   Yes, granite is  
hard,  very hard - but just how hard, especially when you are using steam   
power?    Is there an example of a developer mixing  stones   on the piano 
nobile 
or above?

These are the  things I am thinking about while waiting for just the 
teenist 
touch of dry  air so I can put the first coat of finish paint on the screen 
doors   on dfi.    

c


PS John, maybe the problem was that  I used oil-based wax instead of latex  
wax?    Or perhaps I  should have sanded the screening - would 150  be 
about 
right?   Next time I'll try an acid pre-wash - the run-off will do  the  
geraniums wonders.  

--
**Please remember to trim posts, as  requested in the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation  prattling among pals and the 
uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go  to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>

------------------------------

End  of BULLAMANKA-PINHEADS Digest - 22 Jun 2011 to 26 Jun 2011  (#2011-90)
*************************************************************************

--
**Please remember to trim posts, as requested in the Terms of Service**

To terminate puerile preservation prattling among pals and the uncoffee-ed, or to change your settings, go to:
<http://listserv.icors.org/archives/bullamanka-pinheads.html>