I like the ornate doorknobs used in the oldest temples. I recently toured the Museum of Church History and Art across the street from temple square and noticed the original door hardware from the Logan Utah Temple (The first and second pictures in this post). The hinge plates and other hidden door plates had flowers and birds cast in them. They truly were beautiful and showed the sacrifice of the saints in the late 1800's. They had very little and yet they put such ornate details everywhere in the temples. This temple was dedicated in 1884.The third picture is of the doorknobs in the Manti Utah Temple (dedicated 1888). I've been in the temple and they look like bright gold colored brass and are incredibly ornate with Egyptian and other symbols worked in.
The fourth picture is of the Salt Lake Temple (dedicated 1893). These are also ornate.
The last picture is of a door handle in the newly built Sacramento California Temple (dedicated 2006). This shows that ornate door handles are again becoming a part of temples. I am really happy about this. I think every detail of the temple should be meaningful and detailed. They should always be our best work. In the 1800's when we had nothing we managed to create very detailed temples, so today in our relative wealth we should be able to still create very detailed temples. Detailed doors are just one aspect of this that I enjoy seeing again.
The Logan Utah Temple was remodeled in the 1970's removing the original craftsmanship. Today's doorknobs are not ornate. They are very simple and plain and frankly boring. I think this is highly disappointing. We have the original doorknobs. We should either use them on the new doors or have replicas made and installed. At the very least we should replicate the design in an altered doorknob. Hopefully the Logan Utah Temple will one day be restored to its original beauty and detail much like the Nauvoo Temple. That will probably take some large donations from members for the restoration. I hope I can see that someday. In the meantime I am glad we are again adding detailed door hardware in modern temples.
9 comments:
Have you seen the torch-motif doorknobs used in the Manhattan Temple?
yes. I attended the Manhattan Temple last October. It is a beautiful temple. The door knobs are the torch from the statue of liberty. A lot of the other details are copied from the Salt Lake Temple interior (such as moldings, arches above doors, etc.)
I also remember the doorknobs in the Jordan River Temple. They're designed in a motif that echoes the inverted arch found in the spire.
I like that the Jordan River Temple doorknobs are actually unique. I am very disappointed that when the Logan Temple was gutted they took out the ornate doorknobs and added simple, plain, boring doorknobs that are not unique. The temple's style has been redone and is similar to the Jordan River Temple but the doorknobs don't have any detail whatsoever so they aren't even to Jordan River Temple standards (which I like). It is sad because the Logan Temple doorknobs were so ornate - and the church still has them! Why they aren't being used is a mystery.
I like your blog. I now look at every detail when I'm in the temple.
Good to hear. I'll have to keep writing.
The Calgary Alberta Temple has a flower and wheat motif on its doorknobs. One of the photos at http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/calgary-alberta-canada-temple-opens-for-public-tours shows the design.
I've tried and failed to find an online photo of the doorknob design found in the Washington, DC Temple, which incorporates an image of the temple itself.
To be more accurate, I should clarify my previous comments about the doorknobs of the Washington, DC and Jordan River, Utah Temples. It is the escutcheons (the doorplates behind the knobs) and not the doorknobs themselves that contain images of the temples.
Beautiful designs of Door Knobs. Thanks for sharing.
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