On View In:
Gallery 300
Artist:   Louis Henri Sullivan
George Grant Elmslie
Jerry Bonnette  
Title:   Cast of teller's wicket  
Date:   1967 (designed 1908)  
Medium:   Bronze  
Dimensions:   40 5/16 x 22 1/2 x 3/8 in. (102.39 x 57.15 x 0.95 cm)  
Credit Line:   Gift of Roger G. Kennedy  
Location:   Gallery 300  

The original seven teller wickets in the National Farmers’ Bank banking room were removed during renovations in 1929 and 1940. So far as is known, none survive. This cast is one of three made by Jerry Bonnette in 1967 from an eighth wicket, given by the manufacturer to the Art Institute of Chicago in 1908. Though once removed from the original, it clearly shows the skill Elmslie contributed to the bank’s elaborate decorative scheme. The wicket’s geometric, rectilinear framework is overlaid with scrolling curves and organic designs of pods, leaves, and berries. The abstracted, highly detailed natural forms are meant to be seen and appreciated at close range. In contrast, a cast iron panel for the Woodbury County Courthouse (also in this gallery), with simpler, bolder abstraction, was meant to be viewed from a distance.

Artist/Creator(s)     
Name:   Elmslie, George Grant  
Role:   Designer  
Nationality:   American  
Life Dates:   American (born Scotland), 1869-1952  
 
Name:   Sullivan, Louis Henri  
Role:   Designer  
Nationality:   American  
Life Dates:   American, 1856-1924  
 
Name:   Bonnette, Jerry  
Role:   Caster  
 

Object Description  
  
Inscriptions:    
Classification:   Metalwork  
Physical Description:   rectangular metal wicket; open center with elaborate scrolls, foliate motifs and floral motifs with a grid aroudn center opening; arched opening in base; five small holes on edge of each long side; some curved motifs resemble parts of gears  
Creation Place:   North America, United States, , ,  
Accession #:   98.256.17  
Owner:   The Minneapolis Institute of Arts