Overview

Terra cotta represents the largest component within the collections. Terra cotta façades include many complete elevations ranging from revival styles through Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, in addition to several thousand examples of single and multiple element designs, produced from 1860 through 1950. Highlights from this material group include several complete movie palace façades and numerous large programs of ornament from major late 19th and early 20th century skyscrapers. Terra cotta work features designs by noted sculptors, executed by both the Winkle Terra Cotta Company and St. Louis Terra Cotta Company, as well as Northwestern, Midland and American Terra Cotta of Chicago; Atlantic Terra Cotta of Perth Amboy, New Jersey; and New York Architectural Terra Cotta Company of New York City.

Some important historical essays on the Terra Cotta Industry

Terra Cotta in Architecture
Winkle Terra Cotta Company
St. Louis Terra Cotta Company
The Ceramics of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition

Scanned Catalogs

Stock Designs in Architectural Terra Cotta (Winkle Terra Cotta Company)