Mosaics representing Telephone Connection

Hildreth Meière was asked to design decoration for the lobby ceiling that would symbolize the purpose of the building as a vital center of international communication. To represent Continents Linked by the Telephone and Wireless, Meière designed four neo-classically influenced, individual Art Deco figures personifying Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia around the rim of the ceiling. These continents are linked to two female messengers, an eagle and a condor, in the center through gold lines representing the Telephone and Wireless. A rich border reminiscent of Native American quillwork completes the composition. Meière’s allegorical female messengers with a condor and eagle in the center of the ceiling face different directions so that the ceiling reads well from various angles. The messengers grasp diagonal gold lines representing telephone and telegraph wires leading to four Continents personified on the ceiling’s periphery.

Australia is shown with a sheaf of wheat, a sheep, and a kangaroo; Africa, with a pair of lions and the pyramids in the background; Asia, with a tiger, elephant, and pagoda; and Europe, with a sceptre and orb set against St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and Notre Dame in Paris. Meière also employed silhouette mosaic to create a design along the border of the ceiling in a pattern reminiscent of Native American quillwork. Inside the main entrance where the Telephone Wires and Radio Unite to Make Neighbors of Nations is located, Meière depicted a map of the world. She used brown building tile for her design, the same material used to construct the lobby walls. The map was executed by Continental Clay Products.