Tag: Michael H. Casey
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Hell Mouth on Golden Gate Avenue
The corner of Franklin and Golden Gate This interpretation of the Pallazo Zuccari on the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italy once graced the front entry to San Francisco Italian restaurant Vivande. Vivande was the run by Chef Carlo Middione. Middione lost his sense of taste and smell in an auto accident in Spring of 2007 and…
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Tying One on for Big Game
Michael sculpted this for his father-in-law Cecil Mark, a big Bear Backer. Cecil was a natty dresser who always dressed to the nines for football games. Though the photograph does not show it well, there are little Cal bears on the tie. Michael was also proud of the fact that he caught the very small stomach…
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The Apple of My Eye
Michael H. Casey often did sculptures just for fun. They also would show his personality, as you can see by the half eaten apple. In this photograph is “Breezehead” one of his favorite cats. Michael was a cat person, and Breezehead, while not the brightest bulb, as you can tell by her name, gave him…
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Decorator’s Showcase
Palmer Weiss commissioned Michael H. Casey to design the base for the breakfast nook table she used in the 2010 Decorator’s Showcase. Palmer was a true professional and delight to work with, sadly many designers looking for a bargain on the table afterwards were not as professional. The table was originally sculpted in clay…
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Carved Plaster
Michael H. Casey worked to build this “Giacometti” lamp by building up wet plaster. After the shape was to his liking he spent hours and hours sanding the lamp to its final state. Michael had always been a big fan of the Gicometti brothers, and in fact, had the opportunity to repair an original, so…
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Hell Mouths
Various Locations I am not sure exactly when the hell mouth craze took off, but Michael H. Casey had four large projects that incorporated these commissioned sculptures. Bijan incorporated many of them in his Rodeo Drive store in 1999. They were used as shelving, and then there was one that served as a fireplace in…
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Hotel Pacific
300 Pacific Street Monterey, California Michael H. Casey sculpted these fountains for the Hotel Pacific in 1986. The joy of working on a beautiful hotel such as this is that you get to stay there while installing the fountains. It became the go to place to stay whenever we were in the Monterey area. Including…
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Parget
California State Capitol Parget was common throughout the California State Capitol, but like much work throughout the ages it was lost due to remodeling for new amenities such as electricity and air-conditioning, as well as adding desks and finding more space for an ever growing government. A painted fragment was found when workers removed a…
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Chimney Rock Winery
Chimney Rock Winery 5350 Silverado Trail Napa Valley, California 1989 This was our first big job as Michael H. Casey Designs. The winery, at the time was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Hack Wilson. The Wilson’s had been the Coca-Cola distributors in South Africa and they wanted to bring the Dutch-Cape style architecture of Mrs.…
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St. Mark and St. Matthew of Grace Cathedral
Grace Cathedral 1100 California Street San Francisco, California Michael H. Casey was honored to have been chosen to sculpt both Saint Mark and Saint Matthew for Grace Cathedral in 2001 – 2002. He always felt he was chosen due to the fact that he mentioned seismic stability during his interview. The sculptures were life sized, originally…
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Creatures in the Assembly
California State Capitol Assembly Chambers Artists that worked on the California State Capitol Restoration left little tidbits of themselves throughout the project. Michael H. Casey was no different. When installing the ornamentation that he had worked on in the Assembly he added a little creature that expressed his feelings about the goings on in the…
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Minerva
California State Capital Senate Chambers According to ancient Roman myth, the goddess Minerva was born fully grown. Just as Minerva was born fully grown, so California became a state without first having been a territory. Minerva’s image on the Great Seal symbolizes California’s direct rise to statehood. Minerva originally was in both chambers but…
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Necklace of Lights
Lake Merritt 468 Perkins Street Oakland, CA Originally shut down during World War II, the Necklace of Lights circling Lake Merritt fell into complete disrepair and remained non-functional for many years, The Lake Merritt Breakfast club started a campaign in the 1980’s to raise money to restore the iconic Necklace of Lights. Once the project…
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1940 Packard Building Comes Back to Life
865 The Alameda San Jose, California This photo shows the Packard Buidling in 1940. Notice the wonderful sculptural detailing over the windows and the doors. As often happened during the 1960’s and 1970’s many buildings were stripped of their ornamentation to reflect the modernism trend that was sweeping the country. In 2009 the engineering firm…
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Ford Elementary School Lunette
Ford Elementary School 2711 Maricopa Avenue Richmond, California Sally Swanson Architects of San Francisco designed a new $19 million energy-efficient school to replace the outdated original Ford Elementary School in Richmond, California. The new school’s design is a modern interpretation of the Mission Style. The school’s framework, a repeating 30-foot grid, creates the flexibility for the educational programming…
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Bernstein’s Fish Grotto
123 Powell Street San Francisco * Bernstein’s Fish Grotto was opened by Maurice Bernstein (1886-1932) in 1907. It was known for its unique entrance, a ship’s bow jutting into the sidewalk. The ship was a faithful reproduction of Christopher Columbus’s Nina. Inside the restaurant, the marine theme continued. Bernstein’s had seven colorful dining rooms: the…
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The Adam Grant Building
114 Sansome Street Financial District The garland façade, as well as the coffered entryway, were removed in the 1960s. Over the course of its 145-year history, the Adam Grant Building at 114 Sansome Street has gone through several iterations. Constructed in 1867, the first building housed the dry goods business of Daniel Murphy and Adam…