WHAT DO YOU CALL THIS THING?
Ok the brownstone I live in has a great staircase, with a cool newel post, there is also a small landing at the foot of the stairs. At the base of the stairs there is another newel post and a thing on top of it that extends out from the wall. It’s a cool detail…
Ok the brownstone I live in has a great staircase, with a cool newel post, there is also a small landing at the foot of the stairs. At the base of the stairs there is another newel post and a thing on top of it that extends out from the wall. It’s a cool detail i would like to keep but maybe replace with something nicer. Can someone tell me what this thing is called? I’ll post an image soon. help.
I think it is very unusual. In 25 years of living in Brownstone BK and visiting many brownstones, I have never seen anything like it. It is unusual and to my eye beautiful
Please also keep any old corsets you have laying around and maybe the canes you used to beat the slaves because we should really preserve everything old. These favored items may come back in vogue as they should.
Dover Books reprinted in 1988 a Millwork Catalog. The title of it is “Roberts’ Illustrated Millwork Catalog, A Sourcebook of Turn of the Century Architectural Woodwork – E L Roberts & Co”.
The cover shows something similar. If you go to pg 267, you will see something also similar. They give any of this type of wood trim the name “Grilles”.
The purpose of the Grille is safety (as a stop for downward motion from the stairs), decorative (the catalog different grills in different design styles, and shows swags and plants as part of the after market decorative flourishes), and as a way to define the interior space flows around the area (think Feng shui). The reason for the size and that arching component may have to do with the lack of structure below to lag into, and above to connect a vertical support.
If you are intent on changing this feature, the catalog mentioned above shows any number of Grille configurations. If you do disassemble it, do it carefully and put it in storage for the next owner to consider. If you examine the parts and pieces, you may find manufacturers marks that will help to date it and place it’s provenance.
I would be happy to send you references (Dover is free to copy and distribute). Contact me through my web site http://www.lesperancetileworks.com
Oh and BTW this architectural feature cost the builder around $50 in 1903. That was unfinished. Anybody know what that would cost today?
My earlier response, posted in error after the OP’s first post w/ot he picture, appears to be a minority view. It looks like most responders don’t share my love for this type of ornamentation.Nevertheless, I’d like to repeat my earlier request. If you remove this stuff, please store it away so that a subsequent owner can replace it, if wanted. Original ornimentation is part of the fabric of old houses–IMO it’s a shame to loose it forever because of a transitory change in taste.
If this piece of ornamentation ran between an archway, I think you’d call it a spandrel. You can buy this kind of thing in seveal of the antique shops on Atlantic Avenue. It looks like the builder put it in somewhat whimisically, as another piece of ornamentation.
I would just call it fretwork, but I may be wrong. To be honest, I don’t like it (even though I love fretwork, generally); it serves no functional purpose, isn’t very attractive, and would really get in the way when you’re, say, moving furniture up the stairs.
That having been said, what on earth are you talking about when you say you’re considering “replacing it with something nicer?” They don’t exactly sell this stuff at Crate & Barrel.
uh, that’s my wife retard. Thanks for the insight.
I call it ugly!
Gid Rid of it…that’s an eyesore.