Twin lion heads guard the entrances to the Lionhead, an apartment building in Shadyside.
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The Lionhead, Shadyside
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Decorations on the Parkvale Building, Oakland
The richly decorated Parkvale Building on Forbes Avenue is currently under renovation, so we can hope that these splendid reliefs will continue to delight future generations of Pittsburghers.
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The Iroquois
The Iroquois Building, which takes up a whole block of Forbes Avenue, was designed by Frederick Osterling, Pittsburgh’s most consistently flamboyant architect. Osterling designed in a variety of styles: he had his own ornate version of Richardsonian Romanesque, and his last large commission was the Flemish-Gothic Union Trust Building. Here, as in the Arrott Building downtown, he adapts Beaux-Arts classicism to his own flashier sensibilities. The building was finished in 1903.
This clock sits in front of the central light well—a typically ornate Osterling detail.
A naked brick front would never do for Osterling; it must be constantly varied in shape and texture. These grotesque reliefs help.
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Terra-Cotta Ornaments on the Maul Building
The splendid terra-cotta facing of the Maul Building is covered with ornaments that may have been standard catalogue items, but nevertheless show considerable artistic talent.
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Terra-Cotta Trim
Decorative trim on the Schiller Glocke Gesang und Turn Verein (map), a German singing club (now apartments) built in 1897.
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Reliefs on the P&LE Terminal
We seldom look up as we pass the station on the Smithfield Street Bridge, but at the top of the building, directly over the main entrance, is this lively locomotive relief.
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Peter and Paul
Reliefs over the entrance to St. Bernard’s in Mount Lebanon. You can recognize Peter instantly by his keys, and Paul by his bald head, the sword that beheaded him, and the scroll on which he is scribbling a letter to some faraway congregation.
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Terra Cotta on the Thompson’s Building
Two ornaments from the terra-cotta façade of the old Thompson’s Restaurant building on Market Street just off the Diamond.
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Pigeons and Eagles
Pigeons gather on the Mount Lebanon Municipal Building, happily oblivious to the Art Deco eagles.
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Art Deco Masks
The auditorium of Allegheny High School on the North Side was built in 1936, at the height of the Art Deco era. There are three exits, and the architect’s scheme demanded a relief over each one. So we have Art Deco interpretations of the three masks of the classical theater: Comedy. Tragedy, and Meh.
