Arkansas State Capitol Bronze Doors
QUESTION: I drive by the Capitol on my way home from work every day and I can’t help but admire its incredibly shiny front doors. What can you tell me about them? Thanks, Crosstown traffic
SCUTTLEBUTT: According to Richard Adcock, keeper of Arkansas’ State Capitol Doors, when President George W. Bush’s labor secretary Elaine Chao came to town she raved about them. She said that she wished our doors [U.S. Capitol] could look that shiny and good.
SKINNY: First let me say that Crosstown Traffic happens to be one of my favorite Jimi Hendrix tunes. I’d wager you like the song too.
According to the Secretary of State’s self guided tour, the six east front entrance doors are made of bronze and are 10 feet tall, four inches thick and were purchased in 1910 from Tiffany’s in New York for $10,000.
Richard Adcock, Keeper of the Doors
Although I was unable to find detailed information about the purchase of the bronze doors I learned that Tiffany & Co. reached far beyond jewelry and glass. Charles Tiffany founded what would become one of the most prestigious companies of fine things in the world. But it was his son, Louis Comfort Tiffany that I believe would have had his hand in making the bronze doors that grace our Capitol today.
The Morse Museum in Winter Park, Florida houses one of the most comprehensive exhibits of Tiffany. In their leaflet Quest for Beauty, Louis Comfort Tiffany’s Life and Art they note that this Tiffany was a painter, decorator, architect, photographer, a designer of pottery, furniture, enamels and jewelry, in addition to glass lamps, windows, mosaics and vases. It was this Tiffany who opened the Tiffany Studios noted for among other things its bronze and metal work. He was commissioned by a number notables such as Mark Twain where he was asked to decorate his residence in Hartford, Connecticut, and President Chester A. Arthur to decorate the Blue Room, East Room, a corridor and the State Dining Room of The White House.
CHECK THIS OUT:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has a gallery in The American Wing devoted to the arts of Louis C. Tiffany. Find out more here.
CHECK THIS OUT:
Here is a tour of Arkansas’ State Capitol. Enjoy!
Tags: Arkansas State Capitol, Bronze Doors, Charles Tiffany, Charlie Daniels, Crosstown Traffic, Elaine Chao, Jimi Hendrix, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Mark Twain, President Chester A. Arthur, President George W. Bush, Richard Adcock, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Morse Museum, Tiffany, Tiffany Studio