Divine Stone

My Stoneyard Connection

Post author By Mark Saxe
Post date June 18, 2020

My connection to the stoneyard began in the late 1980’s when John Barton, AIA, the son-in-law of the Dean of the Cathedral, James Parks Morton, invited me to see the stone working program. I was offered a place to stay in the Bishop’s guest quarters and visited the stone shed attached to the cathedral several times.

John introduced me to the cutters and carvers. I remember no names, only the intensity and dedication that showed in the faces. It was likely that I met Jose Tapia, Tim Smith and Eddie P. They were working…cutting and carving some of the thousands of stones necessary to complete the Cathedral’s towers. I wished I was one of them, but it was not to be, living in New Mexico with a stone masonry business that needed me and I needed it. However, my connection to the stoneyard has continued since that tour.

I would have traded places with any one of them.

The light filtering down from the skylights, the fine dust of limestone in the air and the tap, tap, tap, of hammer on chisel was mesmerizing. The vibe was intoxicating, especially to me who had already spent the last 13 years working with stone. I would have traded places with any of those carvers but I had a home and business to take care of. Upon leaving the Cathedral I had a feeling that we would meet again in the future. That experience had a profound affect on me and because of it I met many people who worked on the cathedral, most notably Joseph Kincannon, Nick FairPlay, and John Barton. All of them have added to my life and work.

And Now…

So, here it is 2020, the year of the coronaviris pandemic. Roger Murphy, friend and stone carving enthusiast, and I decided that the stone work of the Cathedral St. John the Divine needed to be be written about. The stonework at the Cathedral had for the most part been neglected for a number of reasons. One of those reasons may have been the attention given to the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. It was being built and carved around the same time and received very much attention. Thus the divinestone.org blog was created.

My stoneyard connection was again activated when I was contacted by a friend of mine who was moving from New Mexico and was clearing out her collection of books. She asked me if I would be interested in claiming a few. It was in her bookcase that I found John Barton’s masters thesis, “The Divine Spirit of Architecture”. Written at Yale University, it covers 12 sacred structures and of course St. John the Divine was one of them. I let John know of my discovery and asked if it was ok to reprint some of it.

The hands of St. John the Divine reach far and wide. More about those hands in an upcoming post.

Mark Saxe’s website is www.saxstonecarving.com

Divine Stone

The Historical Parapet

Post author By Roger Murphy
Post date June 13, 2020

Historical Parapet 20th Century Stone Carving — Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Einstein, Susan B. Anthony, Mahatma Ghandi. Carving by Chris Pellettieri

The Historical Parapet at the entrance to the Choir is designed to represent outstanding characters of 20 centuries of christianity. First of all, it is in two sections, one on each side of the steps leading from the Crossing to the Choir. Each section is 18.5 feet long and 4 feet high. It is built mainly of Champville (France) marble, in modified French Gothic Style. The twelve marble columns are alternately green, red and yellow. Furthermore they are of Alps Green from Italy, Rouge de Rance from Italy, and Numidian from Africa, respectively.

Choir Parapet South Half — Columbia University Libraries

Choir Parapet North Half — Columbia University Libraries

The representative character of the nineteen men was the basis for selection. As well, the selectors reviewed their contribution to the development of Christian civilization. The Architects Cram and Ferguson designed the Parapet, Ferrari modeled them. Finally, John Evans Company of Boston carved the figures.

The Evans company reserved the uncarved block for the figure selected at the end of the 20th century. Most noteworthy the front runners in 1922 were Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George, and Charles Evans Hughes.

20th Century Stone Blank — 20th Century stone blank next to 19th Century represented by Abraham Lincoln. – Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection

Time to add the 20th Century Carving

When the 20th century ended, the cathedral selected four individuals-unlike the previous centuries, and not all men. Chosen were Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Einstein, Susan B. Anthony, and Mahatma Ghandi. As a result the task of carving the group from the stone that had been waiting for 78 years, came to Chris Pellettieri. At the time, Pellettieri was an Artist in Residence at the Cathedral and continues that relationship today.

Stoneyard Apprentice Chris Pellittieri — Stoneyard Apprentice Chris Pellettieri. – Photo Joseph Kincannon

Chris grew up in the neighborhood and attended the Cathedral School and sang in the choir. He remembers walking by the uncarved stone at the parapet as a youngster. After college and some contruction work, he found his way to the apprentice program. Some 30 years later, he remains an accomplished sculptor and carver.

20th century carving on Historical Parapet

“I was honored when the Cathedral chose me to make a sculpture of some of the most revered people of the 20th Century to stand alongside their existing sculptures. The surrounding carvings were all done in the 1920’s and it was a challenge to meet the high standards of that period as well as to squeeze four figures into the same sized niche as the others.” – Chris Pelletteri

Untapped New York, 2/13/2014
Chris Pellettieri web site www.stonecarving.us
Columbia University Libraries

Divine Stone

A Few Good Machines

Post author By Roger Murphy
Post date June 5, 2020

In 1979 Jim Bambridge was starting to establish an apprentice program and a working stoneyard. He knew he needed a few good machines. Machinery had to be acquired to handle the giant blocks of stone arriving on a flatbed from the Indiana quarry. 20th century time and money saving technology supplemented the medieval crafts.

The 67-year-old giant planer removes excess stone from complex pieces. It had been lying beside an abandoned railroad track at the quarry for years. The planer was a rusty hulk with bushes and weeds growing through it. In a nearby pasture they found the big 60-inch circular saw.

Stone Cutting Saw — 60-inch circular saw

StoneSawingmachine — 60-inch circular saw

60 inch Circular Saw — Al Rivera keeps a stone aligned as it is sawed on April 24, 1986. Photo Robert F. Rodriguez

“Such machines are hard to find anywhere today, so we salvaged them, had them steam cleaned and rebuilt with parts cannibalized from similar old wrecks we found here and there”
-James Bambridge

The 8-foot diamond toothed reciprocating saw is the only new item. It slices the huge quarry blocks. Bambridge had the saw made to his specifications in Scotland.

Using The Machines

How these devices fit in the scheme of things becomes clear when a flatbed from the quarry arrives. There a two 8-10 ton blocks measuring about 4’x4’x12′. An overhead crane unloads and moves a block to a tracked dolly under the reciprocating saw. The long diamond toothed blade rocks back and forth across the stone, cooled by water pouring through the kerf.

As each slab is freed, one every three to four hours, it is moved to the nearby circular saw. The whirling diamond blade cuts rough building block sizes. If it is to be a moulded column base or section, it goes ahead to the planer. At the planer, it rides a platform that carries it under specially forged blades. These blades peel away excess stone between the high contours. They remove a quarter of an inch per five-second run.

Once these few good machines have finished their work, the blocks are ready for the stonecutters. They and their tools then face and shape them. These tools include everything from the wide boaster to oddly shaped devices with names like waster, punch, cockscomb, quirk and point. There are some 60 weird tools, many handed down from the Middle Ages through generations of stonemen.

Popular Mechanics, August 1983

Profiles in Stone

Remembering Ruben

Ruben Gibson rose through obsessively hard work from apprentice to stonecutter to carver to lead carver. Remembering Ruben, his contributions to the cathedral and his unique leadership role is important. The Cathedral Stoneyard Institute trained him to head the team of eight sculptors in the carving shed. There they transform rough hewn limestone into the intricately sculpted cornices, pinnacles, and capitals. The previous lead carver was an English master mason, Nicholas Fairplay.

Ruben Gibson grew up in a middle-class home in St. Albans, Queens, the son of a subway motorman. From his earliest days he drew and painted with astonishing skill and accuracy. After graduating from Richmond High School he studied English for three years at Long Island University. While In his 20’s. he lived in the Bronx, painting signs and becoming engrossed in sculpture, painting and theology. In 1979 he quit a job as an administrator at Mount Sinai Medical Center. Finally Ruben found the perfect marriage of his artistic talent and his spiritual quest – the building of a cathedral.

Ruben Springer — Ruben Gibson carving a springer. – Photo Robert F. Rodriguez

His associates said Ruben led a monastic, reclusive life completely devoted to stone carving. Most noteworthy it was said that he often found fault with large institutions like colleges and churches.

Remembering Ruben Early On

One of Ruben’s early jobs was being in charge of the machine shop. Steve Boyle, the master mason, was remembering Ruben in this job. “It entailed estimating which stones could be cut from the rough block and slabs. He would then oversee the sawing process ensuring that the overall dimensions of the stones were accurately cut to size. It was also important that the correct orientation of the natural beds were followed. In this way, when the stone was placed with the bed in a horizontal position it was in compression. This position required a good understanding of the fabrication process and a cool head. There was constant pressure to produce enough trade work pieces to keep the stonecutters going. Likewise there needed to be sufficient ashlars and quoins to maintain a respectable cube rate.

Ruben was well up to this task and was meticulous, painstaking and competent in his approach to everything. As a result he always produced work of a high standard in whatever capacity he was in. He demonstrated skill and talent at working with stone. Eventually these qualities led to him becoming the lead carver.”

“I wouldn’t hesitate to say he turned out the best carvings of all of us.”
-Joseph Kincannon

Remembering Ruben’s Humor and Leadership

As the de facto leader among the workers, he was the first to champion any workers’ issues with management. Therefore Ruben always pushed for the advancement of his co-workers for whom he was a courageous and eloquent spokesman. When he took the floor, he was formidable, direct and uncompromising. John Walsh was the master of the stoneyard who appointed Mr. Gibson lead carver. Walsh said he was sometimes difficult to work with because he had strong opinions. Mr. Walsh would occasionally hire a talented sculptor from out of town. Ruben objected and wanted more stone carvers recruited from Harlem and other inner city neighborhoods.

Ruben was quick to laugh and everyone wanted to be his friend. Furthermore he was a person of unwavering strong convictions. Even so, they never begrudged him his hard lined stances. The grotesque he carved for the tower demonstrates his skepticism of the church hierarchy. It depicts an impish face with a large nose and tongue sticking out. Hence the face looks directly at Dean Morton’s office, the source of some of the policies Ruben disagreed with.

Humorous Grotesque

Cathedral Grotesque by Ruben Gibson – Photo by Robert F. Rodriguez

In August of 1988, Ruben Gibson’s work was cut short. He died of kidney failure at the age of 39. He passed away in the AIDS ward at St. Lukes-Roosevelt Hospital Center. His co-workers visited him often throughout this time. Remembering Ruben as a complex, talented and genuine person always.

His loss is a deep loss, it’s not just a matter of filling his slot, because he was totally dedicated to the enterprise. It was his life.
-Rev. James Parks Morton

New York Times, Jan 29,1989
New York Times, Feb 23, 2001
Los Angeles Times, Oct 31, 1987
Thank you to all his co-workers for their memories.

Divine Stone

Me and Momma and Big John

Post author By Roger Murphy
Post date May 22, 2020

This touching fictional children’s story, by Mara Rockliff, takes an apprentice stone cutter through her journey as mother and proud worker on the magnificent cathedral. Me and Momma and Big John is gorgeously illustrated by William Low.

From the book jacket: “Momma comes home from work, tired and sore from a long day at her job. She’s a stonecutter now helping to build ‘Big John’ – the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City. She works for many weeks on just one stone, and her son John wonders how she does it. When at last Momma’s stone is finished, her son John can’t wait to see it. But when he arrives at the cathedral, he can’t believe it is just one plain stone – where is Momma’s name? How will all the people know this is Momma’s art?”

“One of the apprentices was a young mother, Carol Hazel, who inspired Me and Momma and Big John. ‘Stonecutting is in my blood’ she says today. ‘The cathedral is a beautiful thing. and beautiful people helped build it.'”
– Mara Rockliff

Momma illustration from book — Illustration by William Low

Images From Me and Momma and Big John

Page from Book Me and Momma and Big John — Image from “Me and Momma and Big John. Story by Mara Rockliff, Illustrated by William Low.

A New York Times article, Feb. 23, 2001, reviewing the closure of the stoneyard and where the apprentices had gone, indicated this: “Carol Hazel, who raised four children as a single mother at the yard, plans to graduate this year from Mercy College with a degree in education”

Our thanks to Mara Rockliff for letting us present her book. She is the author of many books for children. You can visit her online at www.mararockliff.com.
Thank you as well to William Low for permission to use images of his wonderful illustrations. He is an award winning illustrator, author and painter. You can see his work at www.williamlow.com.
This book is available HERE