The Two-Sided Ceramic Alvarado Hotel Lions Live in Spruce Park
Main image is one of the two-sided ceramic Alvarado Hotel Lion reliefs, found guarding the entryway at one of the homes on the tour...
Ceramic Lions from the Alvarado Hotel
The ceramic lions are purported to be from the famous former MetroABQ landmark, torn down in 1970 (which spurred folks in the MetroABQ to mobilize for better historic preservation). Interesting that years later they'd find themselves imbedded in a wall around a Spruce Park home...
I looked online for some indication that the two-sided ceramic lions were from the Alvarado Hotel. Finding the proof was much easier than expected: within a few clicks to the Library of Congress website, & focusing on black & white images from the hotel, amongst forty other photos was the fireplace image, above. Clearly good provenance...
In their first incarnation, the lions atop the columns in the Alvarado Hotel act as decorative corbels, supporting the projecting columns. I appreciate the asymmetrical square stone quoins that support the fireplace walls. A favorite new word: quoins are everywhere, from the Tessier House far above & fireplaces at the Alvarado Hotel, to the fireplace of the Van Cleave House, seen here...
More lions below...
