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The Dewey Arch

The Classical Values blog had a post back in October ’03 entitled A Classical Arch in New York, which makes mention of the triumphal arch built to comemmorate Admiral Dewey’s victory over the Spanish in the eponymous war between our two nations round the turn of the century.

The Dewey Arch was only a temporary structure built of a plaster-like material, and thus did not survive. A previous temporary wood-and-plaster triumphal arch was built to commemorate General Washington in Washington Square, and proved so popular that it was decided to replace it with a permanent stone version. Unfortunately, the more attractive beaux-arts Dewey Arch, which also featured a colonnade, was not made permanent as its location in Madison Square would have obstructed the flow of vehicles and required a rethinking of the traffic flow.

The only existing reminder of the Arch near the site is a bar and restaurant called Dewey’s Flatiron.

Nonetheless, here are a few photos of the lost arch.

A view of the Dewey Arch, colonnade, and Madison Square, with Stanford White’s towered Madison Square Garden in the background. Broadway and its trolley line cross the colonnade’s axis.

A stereoscopic view of the Dewey Arch from the north.

This shot was taken after the triumphal parade of September 20, 1899 celebrating the victory in the Spanish-American War. Spectators’ chairs lay srewn about the foreground. Photo from the Byron Collection, Museum of the City of New York.

The Dewey Arch from the south, looking up the Avenue.

American impressionist Paul Cornoyer painted the arch while it was still extant.

Published at 3:16 pm on Wednesday 19 January 2005. Categories: Architecture New York Tags: , , .
Comments

Hello Andrew,

First I came upon a photo of the Dewey Arch, then I found your web site.

Thank you for posting the excellent pictures and information.

We are so fortunate to have the internet and persons like
you who use it so skillfully.

Ken

— Ken Hubert 30 Nov 2006 10:45 pm

So many Arches of this kind were built, and sadly, not made perminent.

Thanks… JP

— Jean-Pierre Fortin 20 Dec 2006 7:49 pm

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for posting the wonderful photographs of the Dewey Arch.

However, I was slightly disappointed not to see any mention of the man who designed the Arch, Charles Rollinson Lamb (1860-1942), President of the J & R Lamb Studios of New York City.

Charles Lamb was an important voice in the City Beautiful movement at that time, and he and his younger brother, Frederick Stymetz Lamb (1863-1928) surprised the art world the year after the Arch was constructed, when they received two gold medals for their entry in the stained glass competition at the Paris Exposition of 1900, defeating both John La Farge (1835-1910) and Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). Their family’s ecclesiastical interior design company had been founded in 1857 by their father, Joseph Lamb (1833-1898)and his brother Richard Lamb (1836-1909). That firm was purchased from the family in 1970 by one of the artists who worked there, Mr. Donald Samick, who is still President of J & R Lamb Studios today, as they celebrate their 150th Anniversary.

Charles Lamb founded both the National Sculpture Society and the National Society of Mural Painters. He was active in the National Arts Club, and renovated the former mansion of Samuel J. Tilden (1814-1886), located at 15 Gramercy Park South, as the NAC Clubhouse in 1906.

Also, Charles Lamb based his design for the Dewey Arch on the Arch of Titus, built circa 81 C.E., in Rome. This is the Triumphal Arch which contains the famous bas-relief of the sacking of the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.

Perhaps you could add a little information about Mr. Lamb on the website in connection with the Dewey Arch?

I am not connected in any way with J & R Lamb Studios; I am merely an amateur historian who is currently writing a book on the memorial gifts in the Nave of the church I attend, which is the Episcopal Cathedral for the Diocese of West Missouri, located in Kansas City. I was fortunate enough to discover that the one stained glass window in the Cathedral for which we had almost no information was actually made by J & R Lamb Studios in 1903 and was designed by Frederick Stymetz Lamb. If you are interested, I will relate that matter to you privately.

Again, thank you for sharing these amazing photographs of the Dewey Arch.

Sincerely,

Randal J. Loy

— Randal J. Loy 24 Aug 2007 3:08 am

Comments are closed.

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