The Second Birmingham Central Library (1879-1973)

Birmingham's first Central Library and Art Gallery opened in 1865, but most of the building burned down in a fire in early January 1879. Rebuilding started almost immediately, using the remaining shell and pillars of the original library.

Opening of the first Birmingham Central Library, 1865

Remnants of the first Birmingham Central Library after the fire of 1879

The new Central Reference and Lending Libraries were designed by the architects William Martin and John Henry Chamberlain and opened in 1882. Salviati and Burke provided mosaic work for parts of the building.

Completely new, the Italianate red brick portion facing Edmund Street housed the Shakespeare Library designed by Chamberlain. The floral frieze above the second-story windows and the geometric patterns inside medallions above the first-story windows were made of mosaics.

 Facade of the Shakespeare Library

Due to both a lack of space (the building was designed for 30,000 books and by the 1970s stored 750,000) and a need for new road construction, the second Birmingham Central Library was demolished in 1973. Construction had started on its successor in 1970, which opened in January 1974 and still stands today.

The interior of the Shakespeare Memorial Library is the only part of the second library which survived. It was dismantled and then reassembled within the new building.

The Shakespeare Memorial Library today

Sources:
"The Birmingham Free Library." The Building News and Engineering Journal. Vol 42. June 2, 1882. 664.
"Birmingham Central Library (1879-1973)." Birmingham City Council.
Birmingham Forum

Marquess of Westminster Memorial Fountain

The Italian Renaissance-style memorial to Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster stands at the junction of Pimlico Road and Avery Farm Row in London. Grosvenor was a politician and developer who - before his death in 1869 - was an early patron of Chester architect John Douglas.

Erected around 1870, the four faces of the Portland stone and granite drinking fountain are covered by enamel mosaics by Salviati.

 
Salviati also made the mosaic reredos for the Douglas designed St. John's Church in Aldford, tying it back to Grosvenor through that additional connection.

Sources:
Introduction to Victorian and Edwardian Architectural Mosaics in London
"Drinking Fountain - geograph.org.uk - 1305384" by PAUL FARMER. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
"Fountain on East Side of Junction with Avery Farm Row". National Heritage List for England. English Heritage.
"Richard Grosvenor." Wikipedia.

Funerary Monuments in Croatian Cemeteries

Ivan Rendic was a Croatian sculptor who studied in Italy - including in Venice - and later worked extensively out of Trieste. He made numerous funerary monuments in the cemeteries around Rijeka (including Kozala, Trsat-Susak, Opatija and Bakar), some of which Salviati also decorated with enamel mosaics. A catalog prepared for the 1893 World Columbian Exposition does not detail exactly which memorials Salviati worked on (and erroneously lists Trieste as the location of the cemeteries), but the following examples were all made by Rendic before 1893 and are embellished with mosaics.

The interior of the Gorup family mausoleum from 1882 in Rijeka's Kozala cemetery. Josip Gorup had the memorial built after the death of his wife in childbirth, and the carved relief shows the separation of a mother from her eight children.

The Devet/Spilar-Ambrozic memorial from 1885 in the Kozala cemetery.

The Pilepic monument from 1890.

The Stiglich family tombstone from 1891.

The Bakarcic monument from 1892 in the Kozala cemetery.

Sources:
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2005. 126.
Metzger-Sober, Branko. "Funerary Monuments by Ivan Rendic in the Croatian Littoral." Ars Adriatica. 3. Dec 2013.
Wikipedia

St. Mary-Le-More, Wallingford

David Brandon rebuilt the 11th century church in 1854.

The marble reredos of 1879 is capped with a Salviati mosaic band.

Sources:
Pete Bromage's flickr Photostream
Wikipedia
English Heritage
Sue McArdle on British Listed Buildings

Villa Etelinda, Bordighera

Originally known as Villa Bischoffsheim, this residence was designed by Charles Garnier in 1873 for Parisian banker Raphael Bischoffsheim. Construction was carried out by the firm of Mombelli and Bulgheroni. By 1900, the Villa belonged to a British Lord and was known by its new name. Charles Garnier, Louis Pasteur and Claude Monet all lived in Bordighera around this time.

A golden mosaic frieze with writing runs along the facade above the ground floor windows. The inscription is in Latin and it commemorates the recovery of the Queen Margherita of Italy - who Bischoffsheim lent the villa starting in 1879 or 1880 -  from illness sometime around 1882.

The archways are decorated with a leaf motif and include Raphael Bischoffsheim's initials.

The tower contains more mosaics in various geometric designs.

The villa has served as a home for families of fallen soldiers, and it is now - along with Villa Margherita located on the property above it - part of the Queen Margherita Museum, which exhibits the vast art collection of the Terruzzi family. Much of the villa, including the mosaics, was recently restored.

Sources:
Barr, Sheldon. Venetian Glass Mosaics: 1860-1917. London: Antique Collectors' Club, 2008. 134.
Cook's Handbook to the Health Resorts of the South of France and Northern Coast of the Mediterranean. London: Thomas Cook and Son, Ltd., 1881-82. 65.
The Westminster Review. Vol 154. New York: Leonard Scott Publication Co., 1900.  49.
Hamilton, Frederick Fitzroy. Bordighera and the Western Riviera. London: Edward Stanford, 1883. Advertisements 3.
Fondazione Terruzzi
Comune di Bordighera and Gallery
David Marani 
49luigi's flickr Photostream
- Sigma - flickr Photostream
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