Sculpture of the week (November 26th, 2019)

Union Square Subway Station Eagle

Interior cast-stone shown with an antique dirty bronze finish

 

14th st subway eagle model when it was  completed.

 

The eagle plaque sculpture  is a  bas relief and after a design by Grueby Faience Co 1904. Grueby custom made tiles and ornaments for the NYC subway stations, and at the Union Square (14th Street), Brooklyn Bridge, and 33rd Street stations these eagle plaques were installed in two slightly different configurations.

All the ornamentation had been designed to help passengers recognize his or her station without the necessity of listening for the announcement or reading the signs.

The Interborough Rapid Transit Subway, or IRT, was the first subway company in New York City, and opened on October 27th, 1904
Station Decoration, Plaques: Grueby Faience Co. 1904.

Architectural Designs For New York’s First Subway David J. Framberger Survey Number HAER NY-122, pp. 365-412 Historic American Engineering Record National Park Service Department of the Interior Washington, DC.

SIZE: Nominal 24″ high by 19″ wide.

The plaque is one piece made to look like the multiple pieces the originals were made from, these can be obtained in your choice of any of my usual finishes and may be purchased at this url;

https://www.urbansculptures.com/cart/product/union-square-subway-station-eagle-nr-s2/