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181 Madison Avenue, Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States

The Madison-Belmont Building, a transitional style building combining neo-Renaissance with early modern designs, incorporates many ideas from the growing European modern movement. The building was designed by the prominent and traditional New York architectural firm of Warren & Wetmore in an unusual style for this firm, showing a likely influence from the involvement of master iron smith Edgar Brandt as well as by the fact that Whitney Warren was spending considerable time in Paris where new concepts of Art Deco were taking hold.

The building was constructed in 1924-25 for the Merchants & Manufacturers Exchange of New York, a development company headed by Robert M. Catts and it was built as office and showroom space for silk companies in the developing Silk District of mid-town Manhattan. The Cheney Silk Company, with headquarters in Manchester, Connecticut, was the building's major tenant and had its showrooms on the first three floors of the building. Cheney Silk, started by the Cheney Brothers in 1838, was the first successful silk manufacturer in the United States. The company had numerous ties to design developments in France and had already established a relationship with Edgar Brandt, a pioneer in the Art Deco style in Paris early in the 1920s. Brandt designed the iron and bronze framing around the large showrooms of the lower three stories as well as the entrance doors and bulkhead grilles on the exterior of the building. These lower floors have been cited as one of the first instances of Art Deco architectural design in the United States.

The upper levels display more traditional ornamental motifs that have been flattened and stylized to reflect the newly emerging modern styles. The building's shaft has continuous brick piers with recessed spandrels that emphasize the building's height and a crowning cornice with upper floors marked by over-scaled terra-cotta ornament. These elements were created by the New York Architectural Terra Cotta Company, a firm that worked closely with these architects, and include window-framing pilasters, putti heads and egg and dart moldings that are similar to other Warren & Wetmore buildings but executed in a more modern style. The building has a traditional arrangement of base, shaft and capital, with ornament located in traditional areas, but the broader, more stylized execution of this ornament as well as the unusual and distinctive Art Deco motifs on the three lower floors suggest the new design ideas that were just beginning to penetrate architectural circles in this country, making this an important transitional building between traditional and modern design.


Description and analysis

Silk District

The "Silk District" of Manhattan developed in the early 1920s as sales and design businesses related to silk manufacturing moved to or constructed buildings near the intersection of 34th Street and Madison Avenue. Previously most of these companies had been located near Fourth Avenue between 18th and 20th streets. A confluence of real estate activities led to this change.

In the late 19th century this section had been developed with mansions set amid lawns and fences for wealthy New Yorkers. The well-known residents of the area included the Phelps family who had a house facing Madison Avenue between 36th and 37th Streets (later purchased by J.P. Morgan), Pierre Lorillard, Jr. who lived at the southwest corner of Madison Avenue and 34th Street and August Belmont who resided across Madison Avenue. Early in the 20th century retail establishments began to move north from Ladies Mile changing the character of all the adjoining areas. The incursion of commercial buildings included the R.H. Macy department store which moved to 34th Street and Broadway in 1901-02, B. Altman's to 34th and Fifth Avenue in 1905-6, and Tiffany & Company to Fifth and 37th Street in 1903-6, as well as a large office structure, the Cameron Building, constructed on the northeast corner of 34th Street and Madison Avenue. By 1907, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that "all the blocks between Fifth and Sixth Avenues on Murray Hill are being invaded by retail houses, such as silversmiths, tailors, dressmakers, milliners, etc." These developments hastened the relocation of many people with private homes to areas farther north. This change was also spurred by the construction of Pennsylvania Station and the elevated trains and subways that ran along Sixth Avenue and Third Avenue, making this central area easily accessible by a variety of transportation and thus appealing to many business interests.

New York aided this transition by widening Madison Avenue between 23rd and 41st Streets by 5 feet on each side, to relieve traffic congestion in the area. The New York Times reported that "Madison Avenue has finally come into its own and may now take its place alongside

Two toned gold/ rusty orange silk, w/ tassle trim on leading edge. Ivory lined. Side panel, would look great w/ a fancy tieback or holdback.