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 Ornaments on the Maul Building
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Rodef Shalom Temple
One of Henry Hornbostel’s most impressive works, Rodef Shalom, built in 1906, is notable for its colored terra-cotta decorations, which—according to the interpretive sign on the temple grounds—were among the earliest uses of polychrome terra cotta in the United States.
Find it on the map
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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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More Art Deco in Mount Lebanon
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Terra-Cotta Head
This terra-cotta head of a helmeted allegorical figure (the flowing hair suggests femininity, but the armor suggests “don’t mess with me”) is really a first-rate piece of work, which makes it all the more surprising to find it built into the gable of a rowhouse on the South Side. It is the sort of ornament you add to tell your neighbors, “I am slightly more prosperous than you, because I can afford to have this built into my gable.”
—Old Pa Pitt suspects that this is meant to be a head of Minerva, a Roman goddess you don’t mess with.
The other decorative details on this house are also fine, though more in a vernacular Victorian Romanesque style. This ornament is in the arch above the middle second-floor window.
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Terra Cotta on the Kaufmann’s Building
The Kaufmann’s building at Fifth and Smithfield was designed by Benno Janssen, who gave it a facing of ornate terra-cotta tiles. Compare these decorations to the similar ones on Janssen’s earlier Buhl Building farther down Fifth Avenue.
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606 Liberty Avenue
This beautiful (and odd-shaped) building at what used to be the intersection of Liberty and Oliver is now “coworking” offices, which is the trendy term for “offices with free beer.”
The last block of Oliver Avenue was absorbed into PNC Plaza, but this building remains to outline the old odd-angled intersection.
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Decorations on the Buhl Building
The Buhl Building on Fifth Avenue, one of Benno Janssen’s earlier works, is covered with terra-cotta reliefs in Wedgwood colors.
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Terra Cotta on Liberty Avenue
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The Maul Building
The Maul Building at Carson and Seventeenth is noted for its ornate terra-cotta exterior. Unfortunately the cornice has been lost, but the rest of the building, which dates from 1910, is still one of Carson Street’s commercial treasures.
