New photography by Pat Cagney captured with a digital camera.

Fluted Column with "Temple of the Winds" Capital from the interior of the George Blow House, Norfolk

Manufacturer James Lander Jackson (American, 1818 - 1888)

CultureAmerican

Date1849

MediumCast iron, wood, and paint by James L. Jackson Iron Works, New York City

DimensionsOverall: 99 3/8 in. (252.4 cm)

InscribedBoth capitals bear the foundry mark "J. L. JACKSON. / NEW YORK / 1849" located near the edge on the interior of the capital

Credit LineGift of Clay H. Barr, Linda H. Kaufman, and Elise H. Wright in memory of their mother, Elise Nusbaum Hofheimer (Mrs. Henry Clay Hofheimer II) who rescued these columns when the Blow House was demolished

Object number2005.10.1

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThe capitals are iron (each cast in one piece), and the shafts are wooden. The capitals are in the Greek-taste "Temple of the Winds" design - the abacus is square with a cavetto molding and anthemia on the underside of its corners; beneath it are vertical leaves (like those found in the cornices of Egyptian buildings) and below these acanthus leaves. The wooden columns are fluted and have a bead at the top and at the base.

Label TextJames Lander Jackson American, 1818–1888 Fluted Columns, 1849 Cast iron, wood, and paint by James L. Jackson Iron Works, New York City These two columns once decorated the interior of the George Blow House at 265 Boush Street in downtown Norfolk. Although their shafts are wood, they feature cast iron capitals produced by a foundry in New York. Their acanthus leaf design copies capitals from the Tower of the Winds in Athens, Greece. Such Greek Revival architectural décor, popular in the mid-1800s, brought elegant European accents to one of this city’s finest parlors. Gift of Clay H. Barr, Linda H. Kaufman, and Elise H. Wright, in memory of their mother, Elise Nusbaum Hofheimer (Mrs. Henry Clay Hofheimer II), who rescued these columns when the Blow House was demolished 2005.10.1–.2 ProvenanceSalvaged from the George Blow House, formerly 265 Boush Street, Norfolk, Virginia, by Mrs. Henry Clay Hofheimer II; Published ReferencesThomas R. J. Newbern and James R. Melchor, _Classical Norfolk Furniture, 1810-1840_ (Paducah, Kentucky: Turner Publishing Company, 2004), 100.