Cohen House Window

I had not noticed this shield before that is above the window on the north side to the left of the original entrance to the Cohen House. I researched but could not find much mention of it; I am sure it is overshadowed by the other carvings on the Cohen House, though it is depicted in the Morehead book. I find this shield to be unusual because the perspective of the owls appears to different from other versions of the shield and Academic Seal. These appear to be almost completely in a frontal pose with their right wings visible. The top right one seems to definitely have a division where the right wing is portrayed; the others may just be depicted as fatter than the usual versions. There is another shield on South Hall, now Will Rice College, that may be similar to these owls but it is very high up and hard for me to tell. I may have to bring some binoculars.

Allen Center Sculpture

This is perhaps one of the most visible owls on campus due to its location in the Allen Center. It is by Anny Coury and was her first work. A file in Woodson includes an article from the Houston Post dated November 23, 1967 that tells us more about this work. It is limestone, weighs about 1300 pounds, and took about two years to complete. One of the architects working on the Allen Center (from the firm Lloyd, Morgan, and Jones) discovered the owl. It is unfortunate that this work does not have a plaque identifying the sculptor. Perhaps Rice's new University Curator will change that.

Baker Hall Exterior Light Fixtures

There are many owls on campus that leap out at you and many more that you can search for and possibly never find. Some are so high they are difficult to see and some are in very obscure or detailed areas. I gave a cursory glance around Baker Hall and could not find any owls but kept being drawn to these exterior light fixtures. These reminded me of some type of helmet; I kept envisioning one of Wagner's Valkyries wearing one. I decided to take a closer look because I thought these were perhaps meant to represent a helmet for Athena (a reasonable conclusion since this building houses the Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Political Science Department) and that the sides were meant to represent the wings of an owl. Upon closer inspection I discovered that there is an owl actually depicted on the fixture. Stephen Fox in his Campus Guide: Rice University indicates that these were designed by Kent Bloomer, a professor of architecture at Yale, and that these "evoke the outspread wings of an owl." They clearly do, but I believe the photo also shows the clear resemblance to a helmet.

Lovett Hall Columns

These are examples of columns at either end of Lovett Hall. Most of the carving on Lovett is attributed to Oswald Lassig, but other workers did some carving as well. While I think there are similarities to the RMC columns I would not call these nearly identical. I think I prefer these to the RMC ones, but these often get overshadowed by the other lovely columns on Lovett Hall. Lovett actually has more depictions of owls than I thought so I will have to take a few more photos soon.

Rice Memorial Center Columns

Both of these images come from the Rice Image Library. I believe these are the most well-known owls around campus, or at least the most photographed. I also think the RMC has the most owls around and inside the building. The makes sense as it is one of the central public buildings on campus. Morehead says these owls are almost identical to some owls that are on Lovett Hall. My next post will feature those owls so that you can make your own comparison.

Baker College Library Light Fixture

I thought I would add another interior feature. This is one of the lights in Baker College's library. This room was originally the commons room in the building known as the Institute Commons. Stephen Fox in his Campus Guide: Rice University dates this building to 1912 (not sure if that is the start date or of completion) but other sources indicate 1914. I've also seen conflicting opionion on whether East Hall dates from 1914 or 1915. Morehead's book indicates these fixtures are original to the building and I have seen them in some older photos, however they look newer than 1912 to me; perhaps it is the ceiling fans to which they are attached. This is one of many examples of the Rice Shield on campus. The designer, Pierre de Chaignon la Rose, also designed various seals for Harvard and Notre Dame.

Rice Memorial Center Andirons

It has been rather cold and dreary in Houston lately and somewhat difficult to take photos outside. I thought I would show this lovely pair of andirons that is in the fireplace in Kelley Lounge in the Rice Memorial Center. I don't know much of the history behind these, but imagine it would not have been too difficult to find a set of these already in existence, but perhaps they were custom-made for the fireplace.

Keck Hall Fountains

These owls, like many around campus, are tucked out of the way. These are a pair of owls at the south entrances to Keck Hall, formerly Dell Butcher, formerly the Chemistry Building. They appear to be old water fountains but I could not find any original photos of these in the Woodson Research Center. There are so many lovely details on this building I imagine these fountains were not considered photo-worthy. You should definitely take a look at them now. I believe these owls were added during the recent renovation of this building, which won a Good Brick Award from the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance.

Humanities Building Weathervane

This one was hard for me to capture and can be hard to see so be sure to look upwards for this one also. It is so thin it gets lost at various side angles. This is on the Humanities Building at the top of the Pitman Tower. I like this one because of its resemblance to folk art weathervanes. It also reminds me of Halloween clip art, rather like a Jack-O-Lantern stencil. I'm not sure of the reason for the design of this one but it is very whimsical and rather unique among the Rice owls.

Herzstein Hall (Physics Building) Lobby

I brought my camera to campus and captured a few images. I also dug out James C. Morehead, Jr.'s excellent book A Walking Tour of Rice University. Though this book could use some updating it is a wealth of information and will keep me from having to research a few items. This is one of four owl finials in the lobby of Herzstein Hall, which I will probably refer to as the Physics Building in other posts. You can see a good image of the owl on page 25 of the Morehead book (the 2nd revised edition, which I believe is available in the Campus Bookstore). Morehead also relates a story of how these were stolen in 1983, seemingly as part of a prank and later uncovered after a professor solved a riddle. You should hunt down the book and find the full details. These are original to the building and are one of my favorite interior details on campus.

Fondren Library Owls on Exterior

We'll start off with the owls that grace the exterior of Fondren Library. These are on the "front" of the library, or the east entrance facing Lovett Hall. These are perhaps the most underrated owls on campus. They should be quite noticeable as they are quite large, but they are probably overlooked because they are fairly high up. Next time you are walking across the quad cast your eyes up and notice the proud pair of Fondren owls. This photo can be found as part of the Rice Image Library.

Visual Tour Of Owls around the Rice University Campus

Hi all,

I'm creating this blog for an assignment here at Fondren Library. I tossed around ideas and landed on something I've wished existed for a while: a register of the depictions of owls around the campus. This will mostly be owls that are on the buildings but I'll include sculpture in the buildings and other decorative details. I'm not sure a blog is the best place for this, and I doubt I will keep up with locating and photographing owls around campus but I'll give it a shot and maybe it will inspire others to do some more searching. Look for my first visual post next but those interested might want to take a look at the April/May 1992 issue of the Rice University publication Sallyport. Pages 24-25 contains a quiz with 12 owls to see if you can name the buildings they are on.