Fisher Building, 343 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois: Upper Portion of Elevator Grille 1895 - 1896

This is an upper portion of an elevator grille made by Charles B. Atwood for the Fisher Building in Chicago. Completed in 1896, the Fisher Building was designed to announce the wealth and ingenuity of its owner, Lucius Fisher, a manufacturer of elevator equipment. The marine motifs visible in the grille - dolphins, shells, and stylized waves - speak to the optimistic and celebratory mood that accompanied the rise of Chicago as a modern metropolis. The building itself was a monument to technological progress and capitalist ambition. We can see the visual vocabulary of Beaux-Arts classicism employed here to ennoble the distinctly modern experience of riding an elevator, of being transported rapidly from one's street-level existence to an elevated realm of commerce and industry. As historians, we can look to architectural plans, period photographs, and business records to understand the values and aspirations embodied in this remarkable artifact. We can ask: What was the public role of art in the Chicago of the late 19th century? What were the social conditions that shaped artistic production?