The Model Artistes Of Gothic Hall

Last week we were looking at the varied history of a building called Gothic Hall, at 313 Broadway in New York, which was built in 1826 and torn down just 30 years later.
The picture on the left dates from 1840, when it was still a sedate and regal sort of place.

Ten years later, it had changed beyond measure. A man called George Lea was putting on performances at Gothic Hall which starred Model Artistes.

The Model Artistes were men and women mostly women - posing onstage in various tableaux and in various stages of undress. Tableaux vivants or "living statues" were originally of a high artistic quality, but had degenerated by the mid-19th century into Victorian soft porn. The women wore "gauze dresses' and "tights" - which sounds harmless enough by modern standards. But the New York Artistes often wore much less, according to the Times.

There were many theaters and cheap halls in the lower Broadway area which offered this sort of entertainment. One, the Temple of Graces, at 598 Broadway, was regularly raided by the police. They would surround the building, then charge in and arrest everyone - the audience included. Then the actors would be fined, and the audience was let off with a stern warning. At the Temple of Graces, in the early 1850s, one could also see magicians perform "numerous experiments in chemistry, pneumatics, optics, natural philosophy and magic."* The Temple's manager, John St. Luke, publicized the place by distributing "fleshy handbills" at hotels.

George Lea went on from Gothic Hall to other amausement venues. He ran the Franklin Museum on Canal Street, which also featured Model Artistes, in the early 1860s. During the Civil War, he went to Baltimore and ran the "infamous" New Idea saloon. By 1867 he was back in New York, running the "notorious" Oriental Saloon in the basement of 652 Broadway. When the police raided it that year Lea was held on $500 bail.

A look at Google Maps suggests that 313 Broadway, the former site of so many different forms of entertainment, is now a Super Value Store selling discount electronics.

The picture of Masonic Hall (later Gothic Hall) in 1840 is from the NYPL Digital Gallery.

*The wording of this perhaps suggests a coded way of describing the sexual nature of the entertainment. Not knowing 1850s New York slang, though, it is hard to tell.

Sources - all from the New York Times:

"The Police and the Model Artistes," Apr. 10, 1852, p. 2.
"Descent Upon the Model Artistes," Oct. 20, 1856, p. 8. [connects Lea with Gothic Hall]
"Descent Upon A Busy Convert Saloon," Jan. 28, 1867, p. 8.