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Library of Congress. Congressional Reading Rooms. Senate Reading Room. Oak doorhead by Herbert Adams – Antique Wall Art

Library of Congress. Congressional Reading Rooms. Senate Reading Room. Oak doorhead by Herbert Adams — historic photograph
Library of Congress. Congressional Reading Rooms. Senate Reading Room. Oak doorhead by Herbert Adams. Historic photograph from the Library of Congress collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Few images capture their era like this historic photograph of Library of Congress. Congressional Reading Rooms. Senate Reading Room. Oak doorhead by Herbert Adams. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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Library of Congress. Congressional Reading Rooms. Senate Reading Room. Oak doorhead by Herbert Adams

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The carved oak doorhead in the Senate Reading Room at the Library of Congress stands out for its mermaid motif, which the caption card records. The sculptor Herbert Adams, an American artist known for architectural and decorative carving, made the work as part of the interior decoration of the Thomas Jefferson Building, which opened in 1897. Wood carving of this kind was prized in the period's public buildings, where craftsmen were often commissioned to give reading rooms and official spaces a sense of permanence and learning. Look closely at the carving's flowing lines and the way the figures are set into the wood to see the skill that went into the room's ornament.

Medium1 photographic print.
Notes[no date recorded on caption card]
SubjectsThis record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Mermaids; Sculpture--Adams; Wood carving; DC, Wash.--LC--Int.--Cong. RR; Geogr.; Shelf.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,536 × 1,151 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-135966

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