MO_Des Peres--St. Paul's Lutheran Church

ST. PAUL'S LUTHERAN CHURCH--DES PERES, MO

Title of Installation:

Tiled "east wall" of the old chancel, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Des Peres, MO

Materials Used:

Ceramic tiles

General Description:

The "east wall" of the chancel of the church consists of a polychrome tile mural of Jesus with a golden cross behind him, and a background of blue tiles, some with religious symbolism.

"This particular tile was the backdrop for the altar of the old church but is no longer used for that... . It's currently being used as the choir library."¹

Technical Information (Size,mfg., etc.):

The tiles were manufactured by the Mosaic Tile Company of Zanesville, OH.²

This building was designed by the well-known church architect Theodore Steinmeyer.³

Year Created:

Donald Meyer, the Archivist of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, emailed that he has "...a Book[,] no. 106, printed [in 1939]...with picture of our Mosaic on the front cover. I think this book was printed...by The Carlyle Tile Co., Zanesville[/]Ironton, Ohio."³ (According to a 1943 issue of News in Engineering, a controlling interest in the Carlyle Tile Co. was purchased by the Mosaic Tile Co. in 1935.)

Year Installed, if different:

c. October, 1938³

Does Installation Still Exist?

Yes

Location of Installation:

In the choir library of the "old" church, which was built in 1938.

Additional Information, Websites, Citations:

¹Email from Marie Jakle, Public Relations Director, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, to Michael Padwee, dated 27 March 2012.

²Helen Stiles, Pottery in the United States, E.P. Dutton & Co., New York, NY, 1941, p. 294.

³Email from Donald Meyer, Archivist, St. Paul's Lutheran Church, to Michael Padwee, dated 15 April 2012.

Color photos courtesy of St. Paul's Lutheran Church (http://stpaulsdesperes.org/).

Submitted by and Year:

Submitted by Michael Padwee (tileback101'at'collector.org) in March 2012 with the help of St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Des Peres, MO.