Mail Delivery - Philadelphia, PA - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

These reliefs are so beautiful, large and unfortunately unnoticed by many. They are an under-appreciated work of art. Wikipedia has the following to say: Mail Delivery is a set of four relief sculptures by Edmond Amateis made in 1941 for the Works Progress Administration and displayed at the U.S. Court House and Post Office Building in Philadelphia, now called the Robert N.C. Nix, Sr. Federal Building, at 9th and Market Streets. The reliefs are carved in granite and each measures about 108 inches (2.7 m) in height by 120 inches (3.0 m) in width. They show the efforts of postal carriers delivering mail to the "four corners" of America. The East and West reliefs flank an entrance on 9th Street near Market Street. The North and South reliefs flank an entrance further south on 9th Street near Chestnut Street. Noted photographer and former Philadelphian Carol M. Highsmith photographed the reliefs as part of an assignment for the U.S. General Services Administration SOURCE I found myself staying much longer than originally intended. I was not expecting to discover these jewels.

The relief was sculpted by Edmond Amateis as part of the Roosevelt's WPA initiative in 1935. The first one of these was created in 1937 when Amateis created Mail Delivery North, one of the four bas-relief sculptures on the Robert N.C. Nix Federal Building. Amateis has made reliefs all over the country and they are very recognizable and bear his tell-tale artistic signature or relief flare that only he produced. For the record, Edmond Romulus Amateis (27 February 1897; Rome, Italy – 1 May 1981; Clermont, Florida) was an American sculptor and educator. He is known for garden-figure sculptures, colossal architectural sculptures for public buildings and portrait busts.

The SIRIS site describes this sculpture as: One of four reliefs flanking the main entrance to the post office on 9th Street. The reliefs symbolize the tireless efforts of postal workers who deliver the mail in the various outer reaches of America. Representing the Eastern United States is a mailman dressed in a traditional postal uniform of the 1940s consisting of a double-breasted jacket and small round cap. In front of him is the bumper of a 1940s car and a mailbox attached to a fluted column. With his proper right hand, he reaches into a mailbox to collect the mail. He carries a mail pouch slung over his proper left shoulder and rests his proper left hand on the strap. Behind him is another fluted column.

The relief is made of granite. Its dimensions are approximately 108 inches in height and 120 inches in width. The artists name is inscribed in the lower right side. I think it is his signature. The relief is viewable from the sidewalk along south ninth street. It is located to the right of the side entrance. There is another one of thee to the left. I parked along the street. The front of the building is along Market Street. The Robert N. C. Nix, Sr. Federal Building and Post Office is located at the southwest corner of Ninth and Market Streets in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Nix building was constructed between 1937-1939 as a project of the Public Works Administration, a federal initiative to provide jobs and economic activity surrounding public construction projects as part of the nation’s recovery from the Great Depression.

The Nix building is a stylized Moderne structure built out of Indiana Limestone, with simplified classical design elements. The entrances to the Court House, on Market and Chestnut, are flanked by huge bas-relief granite sculptures depicting allegories of justice and the rule of law. My favorites, however, are the bas-relief sculptures along 9th Street showing postal carriers in different parts of the United States. SOURCE