Continents (at the U.S. Customs House)
By Daniel
Chester French, dedicated 1907
Bibliography, Out-takes,
Discussion Questions,
Suggested Readings
Note #1: In researching
Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide, I often
relied on contemporary accounts in periodicals to clarify details of
sculptures that have since become obscure. I find such descriptions
fascinating in themselves (what did the reporter notice and consider
worth commenting on?), and have therefore
included several lengthy descriptions of the Continents
below, in chronological order, with comments occasionally inserted
in square brackets. Close-up photos show details mentioned in these
descriptions.
Note #2: the New York Times online is
indexed erratically for these sculptures. The most effective search
seems to be "Custom House Cass Gilbert."
An article in the New York Times variously
cited as 1/17/1904, 1/27/1904 or 1/17/1917 is supposed to quote French
on the meaning of the sculptures, but I've been unable to locate it on
the Times online.
New York Times 4/30/1905: "For Four Marble
Groups. Symbols of Continents for the Custom House by D.C. French Shown"
was written after a reception at French's studio to display the finished
clay models. Some details of the design were subsequently changed, as is clear from the models
preserved at Chesterwood and the correspondence recorded in Richman (Daniel Chester French, An American Sculptor,
pp. 103-111). America is described thus: "The young woman with
alert face, raised eyebrows, and a flaming torch in her hand carries on
her lap a sheaf of maize stalks with the ripe ears of corn. On the side
and front of her throne are hieroglyphs hinting at the Mexican
inscriptions. By her side kneels a partially draped man guiding a
winged
wheel before him on the ground.
At her back, with plumed head close to her ear,
kneels an Indian chief. As one ascends the stair to the main entrance
this group will be on the left, with the crouching figure of Invention
[this is the only source to call the figure "Invention"] near at hand. Just behind the
youth is a group of attributes - architecture, literature, painting, &c.
- giving by their mass a pyramidal outline to the group when seen from
this side." [The finished marbles don't have these attributes, they have
Native American pottery and a totem pole.]
Here's Europe: "To the
right hand as one mounts the stairs will sit on a Greek throne, having
riders from the Parthenon in low relief on its base, the draped figure
of Europe. She rests her left arm on a big, old-fashioned book, and this
in turn rests on a big globe of the earth. Behind is a figure with
drapery over the head, pondering upon a skull - like the grave digger in
'Hamlet.' On the back of the throne is an eagle with spread wings and
thunderbolt. [I think it might be the top of a Roman standard (battle
flag) - at least, I can't see a thunderbolt.] On the left side rises the
prow of a galley, which terminates in the snarling mask of a lion. [The
finished marble has three prows.]
To indicate the supremacy
of Europe in civic matters, the sculptor has given her the crenellated
crown of Cybele, mother of the gods of Greece. [I couldn't find a good
discussion of the significance of this type of crown, so I didn't
mention it in
OMOM.] One clenched hand is on the big book, the other rests on the
prow of the ancient galley.
Europe gazes forward with uplifted chin, wearing a defiant look, as if
ready to repel aggression. [There certainly was aggression building up:
the Continents were dedicated in 1907, when European leaders were
concocting the web of alliances that eventually engulfed Europe in World
War I.] Asia: "Near the Whitehall corner will stand a throne
bearing a woman in an Assyrian miter [a tall, pointed hat], with her eyes
closed like a Buddha and a little effigy of Buddha in her lap.
The right
hand holds the stalk of a lotus [hmm, no mention of the snake: I wonder
if it was a late addition, or just difficult to see? It's visible above
at the far right of the lotus stem], the left is laid palm downward on her
knee. The footstool before the throne rests on skulls. A nude Asiatic to
the right lays his forehead on the ground, and by her side marches an
attenuated figure like an Indian fakir, with trembling limbs and head
bowed down, followed closely by a woman with closed eyes.
The
bosom of the symbolized Asia is covered with strings of jewels. To the
left, with back turned and head fawning near her shoulder, sits a big
tiger, while directly behind her back is a cross with rays." And
finally, Africa: "If Asia sits erect, her eyes closed in ecstatic
meditation, Africa seems to slumber as she sits with left elbow on the
head of her lion, right elbow on a reduction of the famous Sphinx. The
features are somewhat thick, the lips and chin suggest the negro, but
the nose is bent, the hair is long, and it is continued in a big plait
to the waist. Behind and near the Sphinx is a figure entirely covered
with drapery save for the toes of one foot and the eyes under the shadow
of the cloak, representing, perhaps, the mystery of the Dark Continent.
The hands of this figure [I think he's talking
about Africa again] are loose and slightly incurved, so as to
accentuate the idea of sleep, which is already marked by drooping head
and closed eyes. Thus we have Europe and America with eyes open and
alertness in the features; but Asia and Africa either brooding on
religious themes or fast asleep."
New York Times 1/14/1906: "World's Greatest
Customs House Will Soon be Completed." The reporter describes Asia
as "the personification of a mysticism that slumbers through countless
centuries, regardless of the sufferings of the ignorant multitudes
crouched at her knees. … behind her appears the approaching cross and
sun of a conquering religion." Africa "is seated between the lion
and the sphinx, a veiled figure of mystery at her back, an expression of
hopelessness and world-weariness in her bowed head." [I think
she's sound asleep, not depressed.]
Europe "offers a fine contrast to
the two typifying the darker and older continents. Crowned and seated on
a throne covered with emblems of past achievements, one hand rests on
the mighty book of the past, the other is clasped above the prow of a
vessel, while the eyes look calmly forward to the
future." America "is portrayed as a youthful woman of rare
beauty seated on a stone covered with barbaric inscriptions. The pose of
the head, the forward movement of the body, are full of energy and
hopeful expectancy. A lighted torch is in one hand, sheaves of corn rest
upon the knees. With arms folded on a rock at her back, an Indian in all
the panoply of primitive splendor peers over her shoulder.
At her side
and under the protecting folds of her mantle kneels a half-nude
masculine figure, strong and reliant, with the implements of industry in
his hands, denoting labor."
In a letter of 8/24/1916 to Grant M. Overton,
Cass
Gilbert, the architect of the Customs House who specified the theme of
the four ground-level facade sculptures, gave a detailed description of the symbolism of the
Continents (excerpted in Bogart, Public Sculpture and the Civic
Ideal, pp. 130-33). Asia, he said, is "calm and serene in
itself … costume obviously oriental, the face impassive, the throne
resting upon the skulls of dead humanity . … To the right the tiger,
beast of the jungle significant of the power of evil, seeking its prey
by night, furtive yet powerful, freer than humanity itself, but
subordinated also to the calm cynical intellectual power of the central
figure, looks questioningly up into the face of Asia. In the lap of the
central figure is the idol, symbol of false worship, while above the
right shoulder of the figure is seen the rising luminous cross of
Christianity, symbol of hope, which found its birth place on the
continent of Asia." Gilbert also notes the "toiling prostrate figures
representing the masses of humanity borne down by superstition, tyranny
and oppression." Europe is "enthroned upon a seat of classic
design … She rests her right arm upon a bound volume of laws supported
by the globe, over which her modern system of law and civilization has
spread. At her right are the prows of the ships of the adventurous Norse
discoverers. Rising behind the figure is the Roman Eagle, symbol of
empire. Upon the border of her robe are embroidered arms armorial
(symbols of sovereignty) of the great dominating nations of the old
world." He also describes Europe as "an Imperial figure of the highest
intelligence .. high civilization, great luxury, intellectuality and
power." America holds a torch of progress, and is a "beautiful,
alert, young female figure, rising to meet new conditions of
civilization, eager for advancement in all that makes for peace and
happiness." She throws back her cape "as though eager to cast aside
whatever might impede her upward and forward movement." Beside her is "a
kneeling male figure, setting in motion the winged wheel of commerce;
while in the background, seen over her right shoulder, is the figure of
an American Indian.
The bundle of fagots in her lap may perhaps
represent the bundling together of the races or of the states that
individually would be weak but collectively are strong. [What Gilbert
calls a bundle of fagots - kindling - is in fact the bottom of a sheaf
of corn, clearly visible from the left side.] America is young,
vital, forceful and beautiful. The future is her own." Africa is
"somnolent in every line of her figure. Her right arm rests upon the
head of the silent sphinx, remnant of the art of by-gone time," but
"some day perhaps to awake with all the power of brute force. … Behind
her is a heavily draped and cowled figure, mystical, veiled,
contemplative and impenetrable."
Adams, Adeline. Daniel Chester French, Sculptor
(Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1932), especially pp. 51-53.
Europe is “unshaken in her maritime pride, sits nobly amid her
ancient glories of art, letters, science, discovery; her history,
represented by a powerful Sybilline form, is by no means relegated to
oblivion, but remains on call, a venerable counselor.” [That's a new
take.] Asia,
"mother of religions, is rapt in contemplation; she holds a lotus
scepter in her hand, a figure of Buddha in her lap; behind her, unnoted
by her, is the radiant Christian cross. A great tiger is on her right,
his powerful lines binding the group together; at her left are suffering
men and women; beneath her feet is a footstool resting on skulls.”
Africa is “Less complicated . . . not yet awakened from a dream in
which both the lion and sphinx appear.” [A dream?!] “In full contrast with all of
these is America, the alert continent, looking up, not down,
thinking forward, not backward; at her side a strong youth turns his
winged wheel. Her eagle is near, her Indian remains behind, her
footstool bears symbols of the ancient Aztec civilization.”
Cresson, Margaret French [French's daughter].
The Life of Daniel
Chester French: Journey into Fame (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1947), especially pp. 211-12. Europe: “She is a proud and
royal sovereign, sitting erectly with a crown on her imperious head and
a look of conscious power. She is seated on a throne that bears reliefs
from the Parthenon frieze while over her shoulder press the prows of
three ships laden with the commerce of her rich harbors, for Europe is
the Conqueror of the Seas. She was such a rich continent, Dan had
debated doing her as an old woman loaded with jewels, but the stately
figure of the younger woman wouldn’t let him go, and he found her coming
to life under his hands.” “The group of ‘Africa’ was the other
end of the pendulum, a heavy seated fig of a woman, sleeping, one arm
thrown over the mane of a recumbent lion, the other resting on the head
of the Sphinx. The suggestion of age and decay was emphasized by a
shrouded figure at the back of the group, which indicated the mystery of
the desert and the impenetrable jungles of the Dark Continent. … It had
a big quality, a more sculpturesque quality than most of his things, and
he [French] discovered that he had gone on to greater heights and struck a newer
note.” Asia: “Where the ‘Africa’ was all physical, though
unawakened, emotion, the ‘Asia’ was all spirituality and aloofness. She
sits upright, with formality. Her face, with eyelids closed, wears an
expression of serenity, introspection, and unhurried calm. Her clothes
are the formalized and flowing garments of the East. The feet rest upon
a footstool of the skulls of men to illustrate the legend of Buddha,
who, on being shown a skull found on a neighboring hill, said, ‘All Asia
is built on skulls, the bones of the reincarnate.’ [Now there's an
explanation we haven't heard before!] While in the background, unseen by
her, remains the Cross of Christ. It was a group that was replete with
narrative, experience, and tradition and only an artist could appreciate
the knowledge and study involved, the patient labor and the mental
strain necessary to conceive, to compose, and to carry through to
completion a group of this scale with such a wealth and variety of
appropriate detail, the accessories kept always in scholarly unity.”
America: “She is young and strong, alert and alive in every fiber of
her being. She sits erect, leaning forward slightly in her eagerness,
her uplifted eyes seeing the vision of the future. Her arm is shielding
a figure of Progress, who kneels at her side, setting in motion his
winged wheel to denote inventive genius. She is seated upon a block of
stone decorated with Aztec symbols, and her foot rests on the symbolic
feathered serpent of Mexico. Over her shoulder peers an American Indian
in his war bonnet, a romantic and tragic reminder of one of the darkest
stains on our fabulous history. The whole group of ‘America’ is eager
and ardent, vital and vigorous, an interesting contrast to the more
reposeful qualities of the other three.”
Lederer, Joseph. All Around the Town: A Walking
Guide to Outdoor Sculpture in New York City (New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons, 1975), pp. 15-16. Asia: "this hieratic figure is
the most formalized, iconlike of all. In her lap is a small Buddhist
figure, beneath her feet a cluster of skulls. Her right hand holds a
lotus flower with a serpent coiled around its stem. [Ah, somebody else
did see the snake!] A prostrate youth joins his elders in worshiping
this mother of religion." America: "Gazing forward, urgently
alive to the future, this figure - the most ardent - holds the torch of
liberty in her right hand and protects the embodiment of enterprising
manhood with her left. Without a suggestion of irony or the faintest
sense of contradiction, America is shown subjugating the serpent-headed
Quetzalcoatl under foot while, in the background, a North American
Indian peers over her shoulder." Europe: "enthroned and crowned;
behind her the hooded figure of History holds a book and a human skull
wreathed with laurel. Erect and alert, Europe is surrounded by symbols
(such as a frieze from the Parthenon) largely of the past." Africa:
"shown in deep slumber. Behind this seminude Nubian queen looms a
shrouded figure, representing, perhaps, the unknown future of the dark
continent."
Richman, Michael. Daniel Chester French,
An American Sculptor (Preservation Press, Landmark Reprint Series,
1976), pp. 103-111, with photos of early maquettes, clay models, and the
finished Continents, and quotes from French's correspondence.
French noted of Asia that the figures at the side represent "the
hordes of India, and the hopelessness of the life of so many of the
inhabitants" (letter of 2/26/1929). The sheaf of corn on America's
lap signifies "the American idea of Plenty" (letter by French of
8/31/1916). Behind Europe is a figure who "reads a scroll and holds in
her hand a laurel-crowned skull. At her feet are crowns, - of her dead
kings?" (letter by French of 8/31/1916).
Gayle, Margot, and Michele Cohen. The Art
Commission and the Municipal Art Society Guide to Manhattan's Outdoor
Sculpture (New York: Prentice Hall, 1988), pp. 12-13. Asia:
represented as the "mother of religion," "a Buddha-like figure absorbed
in a meditative trance. She holds a sacred lotus flower with a serpent
wrapped around the stem ... a statuette of a Buddha rests on her lap ...
The sculptor contrasts the figure's composure and voluptuous forms with
the emaciated body of the man bent forward in supplication and the
prostrate youth at her feet. French implies that spiritual salvation, as
defined by Buddhist philosophy, falls short of human sustenance." [A bit
too broad a generalization, that.] Africa: "veiled in the
mysteries of sleep and darkness ... Massive, slumbering, and semi-nude,
Africa rests one arm on a sphinx, evoking ancient Egypt, and the other
on a lion, typically associated with the 'dark continent.' [Yes, but the
association with sheer physical power is stronger than the association
with a continent.] The personification of Africa suggests that French
and his public perceived the continent as a passive land, characterized
by untapped resources and unawakened potential." America: the
authors note that critics of the time interpreted this as the ideal
woman of the New World, "associating her with America's pioneer women
and colonial settlers. In
her right hand she holds a torch, symbolic of liberty and enlightenment,
while an abundant sheaf, representing material prosperity, balances
across her lap. A robust figure of Labor turns the wheel of progress, a
straightforward reference to America's growing industrial power at the
beginning of the 20th century. As America looks to the future, an Indian
crouching behind her right shoulder is a reminder of her past and by his
position implies a tacit acceptance of the 'march of progress'."
Europe: "the regal continent and disseminator of knowledge ...The
Parthenon frieze carved on the throne and her Grecian garb evoke
Classical Greece and the imperial eagle over her right shoulder recalls
ancient Rome. Behind Europe is Ancient History, depicted as an old
woman holding a laurel-covered skull reading a scroll."
Bogart, Michele H. Public Sculpture and the
Civic Ideal in New York City, 1890-1930 (University of Chicago
Press, 1989). Chapter 6 is on the Customs House, with many interesting
archival photos of models and bureaucratic details on the process by which
the sculptures were produced. Augustus Saint Gaudens was invited to
produce the four sculptures for the base of the façade, but that he promptly refused with the comment that "The United States are
not pleasant people to have dealings of that kind with," and that the price
was "not what I receive for my work and I am not rich enough to indulge
in the execution of work no matter how alluring when there is other at
hand much more lucrative" (p. 118). Bogart comments, "For Saint-Gaudens,
who had done so much to champion the cause of a national art, the desire
for artistic perfection and the federal bureaucracy's insistence on
punctuality seemed to have become irreconcilable." (On Saint
Gaudens's design for the double eagle gold coin, see
Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan Essay 42, Theodore Roosevelt.)
SIRIS (Smithsonian
Institution, Inventory of American Sculpture) IAS 87870014 (Africa),
87870015 (Asia), 87870016 (America), 76009558 (Europe).
See also Doug Yeo's page on Daniel Chester
French for excellent photos and comments
on the
Continents. He notes that Africa was commonly referred to
as the "sleeping continent," and was just beginning to awaken in the
early 20th c. He also quotes critic Charles De Kay as saying that the
shrouded figure behind Africa "expresses the mystery of the deserts and
the unexplored recesses of Africa's primeval forests." (De Kay was the
art critic for the New York Times in the early 20th c.; this is
from an article in Century Magazine, 1906, quoted by Richman, p.
109.) Re Asia, Yeo states that the cross represents the
beginning of Christian missionary effort in Asia. [A bit late, surely?] He identifies the shrouded figure next to Europe as
Ancient History. For America, Yeo identifies the "footstool" as
the head of Quetzalcoatl, the Toltecs' plumed serpent who represented the forces of
light, good, and civilization. [I haven't seen any representation of
Quetzalcoatl whose resemblance to the footstool was striking, so I
didn't include that comment in
OMOM; but the footstool does look like Aztec carvings, so I
did mention that.] Yeo says that the side of America's throne is covered
with Mayan glyphs, which seemed to be confirmed by comparison with
images on the Web. (Any Mayan glyph scholars out there? I wonder if
these are just decoration, or if they have a meaning.)
American National Biography: Philip H. Viles, Jr.
"French, Daniel Chester";
http://www.anb.org/articles/17/17-00301.html ;
American National Biography Online Feb. 2000.
Adams, Adeline. Daniel Chester French, Sculptor
(Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1932).
Cresson, Margaret French. The Life of Daniel
Chester French: Journey into Fame (Cambridge: Harvard University
Press, 1947). Cresson was French's daughter, and
she recounts some anecdotes about French that would otherwise have been
lost. For instance, she notes that French was good at handling committees.
They often thought they wanted a portrait statue, but
French would do a sketch for a portrait and also a draped angel, and the
committee would decide it was the angel they had wanted all along. His
wife Mary couldn’t understand how he did that: “Even when people admit they
don’t know much about art, they all insist they know what they like.” “But they don’t know what they like,” commented Dan. “Very
few people do. They have to be educated up to it. When they’ve studied a
little and seen a good deal, and listened and thought, then they may
achieve a considered opinion, but certainly not before. … I never talk
them down,” said Dan. “I know enough not to try. I simply suggest to
them a better solution of their problem, and they usually have the wit
to see it.”
Richman, Michael. Daniel Chester French,
An American Sculptor (Preservation Press, Landmark Reprint Series,
1976).
On the U.S. Customs House at
Bowling Green
New York Times 1/14/1906: "World's Greatest
Customs House Will Soon be Completed." "Recent years have been
remarkable for the erection of great, monumental buildings in New York
[built recently or under construction ca. 1906: the Flatiron Building,
Metropolitan Life Building at Madison Square, New York Times Building at
Times Square], and this to such an extent that the city may
be said to have entered upon an era of architecture that aims to
harmonize the utmost demands of utility with an aesthetic beauty and
appropriateness of design that enhances the value of the total effect,
an aim that was not always in evidence in buildings of an older date. …
It is the unity of idea embodied in the new Custom House and enforced by
the wealth of sculpture with which it is embellished, more than its mere
costliness, that gives to the edifice its unique value. So thoroughly
has this unity been observed, and so plainly is its meaning hewn in
unlettered language into broad shapes of stone, that to every stranger
entering the city the exterior of the building announces the presence of
a great Temple of Commerce, the meeting place of all the nations to do
business with the New World. … A series of forty-four Corinthian columns
surround the building. These columns, forming an important architectural
feature of the whole, are crowned by composite capitals, from whose
fern-like decorations the head of Hermes, God of Commerce [as on Grand
Central's façade,
OMOM Essay 26], looks out. … Over each window, and running around
the entire building, heads are carved to represent the eight types of
mankind, the head of a woman forming the keystone to the arch over the
main entrance. …
[The cornice] consists of twelve heroic
figures, each about 11 feet in height and weighing twenty tons,
representing famous seafaring powers, ancient and modern …Above these
twelve figures is a group representative of the United States - two winged female
figures holding between them the American shield with eagle above and
horns of plenty below - by Karl Bitter."
The reporter concludes by
noting that most critics have praised the Custom House, except a female
writer in Boston's The Transcript, who said: "There is much that is
beautiful, much that is admirable, in this building. But it is restless.
The pillars are not bound into a monumental brotherhood - they lack a
strong, inter-fraternal, basic attachment. … They stand side by side, it
is true, in admirable symmetry, but there is lacking an absolutely
unifying esprit de corps." Our man from the Times comments, "It is
frequently difficult to translate Bostonese. From the above one gathers
that there is a transcendental something the matter with the new Custom
House, although the building is at the same time thoroughly admirable
and symmetrical - a consolatory kind of criticism that leaves one in a
good humor and at the same time in a state of perplexity, 'restless,' as
the building itself is said to be by this profound critic." ["A
consolatory kind of criticism": I wish I'd thought of that line!]
New York Times, 5/13/1906: "Spain and
Venice Figured. Cass Gilbert Talks of the Statues for His Custom House
on Bowling Green." The reporter asks Gilbert why the sculptures aren't
bronze (Gilbert says the bronze would have stood out too sharply from
the building) and also whether in general Gilbert favors sculpture as an
adjunct to architecture. Gilbert replies, "For monumental buildings I
regard it [as] practically essential to the full expression of the
design. It gives light and shade in a more or less informal way, which
cannot be done by ordinary architectural forms. Indeed, I use sculpture
where I cannot employ pilasters, vases, or other conventional forms."
The reporter comments that sculptors won't like the way Gilbert phrased
that. "'Oh,' said Mr. Gilbert, laughing, 'the sculptors can take care of
themselves. They have plenty of avenues of expression outside of
architecture. I'm only considering one small part of sculpture - its
intimate relation to architecture.'"
Bogart, Michele H. Public Sculpture and the
Civic Ideal, p. 129, notes that in the group by Karl Bitter
symbolizing the United States (at the top center of the Customs House),
one figure has a sheathed sword symbolizing the nation at peace, and the
other has the fasces, symbolizing force and strength. (On the fasces, see
OMOM Essay 6, Washington.) She also states that the head over
the central arch is Mercury (Hermes), god of commerce, rather than
Columbia (see photo above).
"Report to the Landmarks Preservation Commission,"
1/9/1979, designation list 122, LP-1022, Landmarks Preservation
Commission, New York.
Historic Structure Report: Old Custom House, New
York, New York. Prepared for Marcel Breure Associates, James Stewart
Polshek & Partners, Goldman-Sokolow-Copeland, A Joint Venture -
Architects / Engineers, by The Society for the Preservation of New
England Antiquities, 1982 (typescript at New-York Historical Society).
1. Look at French's models for the Continents
in plaster and clay. (Richman has photos.) Find two elements on each
that appear only in the finished marble. What do those elements add to the
meaning of the figures? If they
had not been included, would it have changed the message or the emphasis
of that particular Continent?
2. Pick one feature and study it across all four
figures: e.g. eyes, hands, hairstyle, costume, footrest. How does this
one element help distinguish the figures?
3. Visually, what similarities tie these four figures
together? Consider composition (the arrangement of objects), massing
(the shape of the groups from a distance) and repetition
of figures, objects or shapes.
4. Read contemporary and later
descriptions of one of the Continents, and observe changes in the
type of comments, in particular what's acceptable to mention and what
phrases are acceptable for describing it.
If I were trying to read, much less answer, all
the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any
other business. I do the best I know how, the very best I can; and I
mean to keep on doing it to the end. If the end brings me out all
right, that which is said against me will not amount to anything. If
the end brings me out all wrong, ten angels swearing I was right
would make no difference.
-
In
Outdoor Monuments and on my
blog, I discussed the winged wheel pushed by the man next to
America. The penditives supporting the
ceiling in Grand Central's Main Concourse have more of these winged
wheels - unfortunately I haven't taken photos with my super-zoom
camera yet. Another pair of these
wheels hold up the awning on the south side of what used to be the
headquarters of the New York Central Railroad, on 48th St. facing
the northern exit of Grand Central Terminal and the Pan Am building.
I think these are actually railroad wheels!
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