A curiously eclectic Gothic monument; it looks as though the architect tried to stuff every idea he had ever had about the Gothic style into one fat column. The elegant blackletter inscriptions are noteworthy.
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Holmes Column, Allegheny Cemetery
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Shanor Column, Union Dale Cemetery
The more one looks at this column, the odder it seems. One can only describe the style as “Egyptian Gothic.” The main column has an Egyptian capital, as do the smaller columns at the corners of the base; but the form of the base is Victorian Classical-Gothic. The statue on top holds the rope of Hope’s anchor in her left hand; she also holds something in her right hand, but Father Pitt has not been able to figure out what it is.
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Duncan Mausoleum and Column, Union Dale Cemetery
“Huge” is probably the best single word to describe this construction. The mausoleum itself is massive, and it supports a towering column with a larger-than-life statue of a recording angel by Henry Jackson Ellicott at the top. If you were considering any sort of misbehavior in this section of the Union Dale Cemetery, remember that the guardian of the Duncans is taking notes.
The structure was designed by the noted architect Theophilus P. Chandler. Chandler was the Thaw family’s favorite architect, and he designed two of Pittsburgh’s prominent churches: First Presbyterian downtown and Third Presbyterian in Shadyside.
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Eggers Column, Allegheny Cemetery
A simple and elegant Ionic column that holds up, for some reason, a ball. We do not know the date, and the cemetery site is sketchy about the Eggers family, of whom only Howard Eggers, an artist, has left any trace in publication.
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Moorhead Column, Allegheny Cemetery
Erected in 1877, this column is unusual in carrying two distinguished works of sculpture in different media. The bronze relief is by Carl Conrads (who actually signed it); the cemetery site does not attribute the stone statue, and old Pa Pitt’s eye for sculptural style is not good enough to say whether it is or is not Conrads’ work.