Updated:
July 20, 2007
any talented artists and artisans were associated with the Mission Inn. They created paintings, sculpture, tile, and metalwork. The finest example of metalwork is the St. Francis doors near the lobby. Three artists worked on the project.
The typed of metalwork varied. Hinges and door handles were cast using molds and molten metal. From sheets of copper and other flexible metals, artists used hammers to create objects. Examples within the collections include the numbers use on the guestroom doors and vases.
Common among many items throughout the hotel, including furniture and those made of metal, is the Mission Inn Raincross design. The design is on chandeliers and other light fixtures, hinges and door handles and hammered vases and bowls.
Several artists who created work for the Mission Inn lived at the hotel and had studios here. In addition, they taught art classes. Archibald Barrelle, one of the creators of the St. Francis doors, taught classes in the Annex building across from the hotel. (Klotz, 1982) .
Not all the metalwork was made locally or was contemporary to the hotel. Mr. Miller often purchased old and used objects and materials to display within the Mission Inn. The materials were from all over the world. As an example, along Mission Inn Avenue are a series of wrought iron fences. No one piece is the same. There are even two bronze Spanish cannons in the collections. Miller purchased the two at the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, when it closed in 1915. |
