The
Carrie Eliza Getty Tomb, located in
Graceland CemeteryGraceland Cemetery is a large Victorian-era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at Clark and Irving Park...
in Chicago,
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
, was commissioned in 1890 by the lumber magnate, Henry Harrison Getty, for his wife, Carrie Eliza. It was designed by the noted American architect,
Louis SullivanLouis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of modernism." He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago...
of the firm
AdlerDankmar Adler was an American architect.Adler was a civil engineer who, with his partner Louis Sullivan, designed many buildings including the Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York, the Chicago Stock Exchange Building and the Auditorium Building , an early example of acoustical...
& Sullivan. Getty became familiar with Sullivan's work from the architect's various
LoopThe Loop or The Chicago Loop are the terms used to designate the historical center of downtown Chicago. Most accurately, the term refers to an area bounded by a public transit circuit along Lake Street on the north, Wabash Avenue on the east, Van Buren Street on the south, and Wells Street on the...
projects as well as from the mausoleum (also in Graceland) Sullivan designed for Getty's late partner, Martin Ryerson.
The Getty Tomb has been said to be the most significant piece of architecture in Graceland cemetery and the beginning of Sullivan's involvement in the architectural style known as the
Chicago SchoolChicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
.
The
tombA tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
, which stands on its own triangular plot of land, is composed of
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
masonryMasonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone such as marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, and...
construction.
The
Carrie Eliza Getty Tomb, located in
Graceland CemeteryGraceland Cemetery is a large Victorian-era cemetery located in the north side community area of Uptown, in the city of Chicago, Illinois, USA. Established in 1860, its main entrance is at Clark and Irving Park...
in Chicago,
IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
, was commissioned in 1890 by the lumber magnate, Henry Harrison Getty, for his wife, Carrie Eliza. It was designed by the noted American architect,
Louis SullivanLouis Henri Sullivan was an American architect, and has been called the "father of modernism." He is considered by many as the creator of the modern skyscraper, was an influential architect and critic of the Chicago School, was a mentor to Frank Lloyd Wright, and an inspiration to the Chicago...
of the firm
AdlerDankmar Adler was an American architect.Adler was a civil engineer who, with his partner Louis Sullivan, designed many buildings including the Guaranty Building in Buffalo, New York, the Chicago Stock Exchange Building and the Auditorium Building , an early example of acoustical...
& Sullivan. Getty became familiar with Sullivan's work from the architect's various
LoopThe Loop or The Chicago Loop are the terms used to designate the historical center of downtown Chicago. Most accurately, the term refers to an area bounded by a public transit circuit along Lake Street on the north, Wabash Avenue on the east, Van Buren Street on the south, and Wells Street on the...
projects as well as from the mausoleum (also in Graceland) Sullivan designed for Getty's late partner, Martin Ryerson.
History
The Getty Tomb has been said to be the most significant piece of architecture in Graceland cemetery and the beginning of Sullivan's involvement in the architectural style known as the
Chicago SchoolChicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
.
The
tombA tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes...
, which stands on its own triangular plot of land, is composed of
limestoneLimestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
masonryMasonry is the building of structures from individual units laid in and bound together by mortar; the term masonry can also refer to the units themselves. The common materials of masonry construction are brick, stone such as marble, granite, travertine, limestone; concrete block, glass block, and...
construction. Roughly a cube in shape, the bottom half of the tomb is composed of large, smooth limestone blocks. The upper half is composed of a rectangular pattern of octagons, each containing an eight-pointed starburst design. The
corniceA cornice is horizontal molded projection that completes a building or wall; or the upper slanting part of an entablature located above the frieze...
is banded with smooth limestone above intricate spiraling patterns below, and the top-edge of the roofline is straight and horizontal on the front and back and scalloped in a concave fashion on the sides.
When approaching the tomb, the obvious focus is the ornate doorway. An intricately ornamented
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
gate and door,
patinatedPatina is a film on the surface of bronze or similar metals ; a sheen on wooden furniture produced by age, wear, and polishing; or any such acquired change of a surface through age and exposure...
green over time, are spanned by a broad semi-circular
archwayAn arch is a structure that spans a space while supporting weight . Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-History:Arches...
. The
voussoirA voussoir is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, used in building an arch.Although each unit of stone in an arch or vault is known as a voussoir, there are two specified voussoir components of an arch: the keystone and the springer. The keystone is the center stone or masonry unit at the...
s, emanating radially in long thin wedges, share alternating areas of plain and intricately carved concentric bands. The twin gates as well as the door behind share a combination of geometric and floral details that incorporate the starburst seen in the upper patterned walls. The three other sides of the tomb house semi-circular, bronze-clad windows that mimick the arch and door details of the front. A plaster cast of the door was exhibited at the
1900 Paris ExhibitionThe Exposition Universelle of 1900 was a world's fair held in Paris, France, to celebrate the achievements of the past century and to accelerate development into the next. The style that was universally present in the Exposition was Art Nouveau....
where it won Sullivan an award.
Henry joined his wife in the tomb shortly after he died in Paris, France on March 31, 1919 (date per his obituary in the Chicago Daily Tribune, published April 2, 1919). Their only child Alice was added in 1946. On March 10, 1971, the tomb was designated as a
Chicago LandmarkChicago Landmark is a designation of the Mayor of Chicago and the Chicago City Council for historic buildings and other sites in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Listed sites are selected after meeting a combination of criteria, including historical, economic, architectural, artistic,...
by the
Commission on Chicago LandmarksThe Commission on Chicago Landmarks, established in 1968 by a Chicago City Ordinance, is composed of nine members appointed by the Mayor and the Chicago City Council. It is responsible for presenting recommendations of individual buildings, sites, objects, or entire districts to be designated as...
.