Art Deco & Egyptian Revival
It can be startling to enter the AHC storage warehouse and have someone looking back at you. This 37 inch tall and 24 inch wide Art Deco cement element would most likely be from the 1920s.
With the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, Egyptian motifs became all the rage. New buildings were being decorated with Egyptian art into their designs.
The 1920s was the height of the Art Deco movement in the United States. This piece is a take on both worlds. Both Deco and Egyptian Revival elements. If you look closely at numerous apartments in Portland you will see some of these designs were incorporated. One example is the Blackstone Apartments.
The Blackstone Apartments are currently threatened with demolition. The Blackstone Apartments at 1831 SW were built for Harry Mittleman in 1930 and designed by architect Elmer Feig.
You will find Art Deco Pharaohs on the first and fourth floors and winged griffins on the front center roofline.
It can be startling to enter the AHC storage warehouse and have someone looking back at you. This 37 inch tall and 24 inch wide Art Deco cement element would most likely be from the 1920s.
With the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922, Egyptian motifs became all the rage. New buildings were being decorated with Egyptian art into their designs.
The 1920s was the height of the Art Deco movement in the United States. This piece is a take on both worlds. Both Deco and Egyptian Revival elements. If you look closely at numerous apartments in Portland you will see some of these designs were incorporated. One example is the Blackstone Apartments.
Egyptian artistic motifs started becoming popular in Europe in the middle of the 1800s. In that period, British, French, and German archaeologists were discovering the tombs and monuments of ancient Egypt.
The Egyptian architecture and designs were being copied and embellished into buildings, jewelry, wallpaper and any number of products.
Paints and stains were being advertised as containing actual mummies. The embalming resin asphaltum used in mummification made for a nice brown stain color.
Asphaltum (Gilsonite) is still being used in wood stains. The natural pigment is mined in the state of Utah.
