Louis Sullivan, (1856-1924), mentor to the great Frank Lloyd Wright, was central to the history of Chicago and modern architecture.
The sale included this decorative stair baluster, c.1893, from the demolished Chicago Stock Exchange, which Sullivan designed with his partner Dankmar Adler (1844-1900). It made a premium-inclusive $27,500 (£20,350) against an estimate of $3000-5000 on December 3.
In copper-plated cast iron, produced by Winslow Brothers Foundry, it measured 11in wide x 1in deep x 2ft 6in high without base (28 x 2½ x 76cm).
The baluster was consigned by an ‘important private collector, Denver, Colorado’.
Sullivan – highly influential in the Chicago School, US Modernism and skyscraper design – collaborated with Adler on more than 100 works.
