The mystery of Grand Staircase cherub

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robert warren said:
Everyone comments on the size of the cherub as it looks today
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What do you mean with that? Was the size different in the past?
Here a picture from the recovery 1987.
 
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And here is C Deck from the original 1911 Shipbuilder for Olympic & Titanic.
 
Oh, and if you look on Deck Plans from Olympic from the 1930s then make sure to look at the forward staircase on B Deck as the deck numbers got changed by that time with A Deck becoming Promenade Deck, B Deck becomes A Deck, C Deck becomes B Deck etc.
 
Yes I knew the pursers office was off the forward staircase area. It was explored and photographed in Ghosts Of The Abyss. However the confusion lies in the fact that everyone talks about the aft C deck landing so that's why the 1933 photo was questioned.The only Pursers office photo Ive ever seen was in the book Triumph and Tragedy. It was cropped so it had the look of a small space. Im also surprised since Olympic was in service for 25 years that much more photos haven't surfaced given the amount of people that sailed on her during that time. The recovered cherub would have been taller in the past. You have the mans fingers on the stub where the foot would have been.Add about a couple of inches for the rest of his foot.Then the base which was probably a few inches more, then add the cornucopia with flame light which extended about another 6-8 inches above his right hand. I know its guesswork but if you restored him by adding these missing elements he would be taller then what you see today.In fact to get a good idea ,the foot and base would probably extend down to the brown bar above the words " everyone comments on the size of the cherub today" Just for the record, during my 40 year love affair with the Titanic Ive come across a number of pics and stories that seem to be legit but are not.So there is a doubting mechanism when I see photos that have never been seen in any book or other source. My first response is yeah right why hasn't this been published before.Like I said this subject is so far reaching that people make up myths and do wonderful things with photoshopping that it can be easy to get taken in by untruths.
 
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robert warren said:
Actually my doubts about two cherubs flanking the opposite ends of the b and c deck aft staircases may have been flushed.Today I stumbled on a pic of Olympics c deck aft staircase taken in 1933 and even though the pic is not crystal clear, you can see the cherubs on the ends with their torchlights.There is a pineapple finial in the middle where one cherub should be. Also I have recently seen what appear to be photos of Brittanics staircase since there is a beautiful painting in the area where the clock should be.However this looks like a photo, not an illustration if studied more closely. Any helpful on these photos would be very helpful. Thank you
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They also have these double flanked cherubs in the game Honor and Glory (two small cherubs on each post) and I know they were METICULOUS over their historic detailing of the ship so I think it's possible for sure.
 
The other day I was looking at more pictures from Honor And Glory,and they have put out some new pics for everyone to see. One of these was a great rendering of the B deck Reception room for the A la carte restaurant. This looks exactly like the period illustration showing ONE large cherub on the staircase. Now considering what lengths these people did to recreate all the Titanic interiors, and how meticulous their research was, its very likely that this was the case.The forward B deck landing was more likely the same as well.C deck had the two small cherubs, and B deck very likely had just the one. I'm just putting this out there since there is no photographic evidence of any B deck landing.Until one surfaces, we cant really be certain that two cherubs graced both B and C decks.
 
The forward B Deck landing had also the 2 small cherubs at the sides. We know that there was a wooden pineapple in the middle and yes there are photographs of the B Deck landing. I have one from the forward B Deck landing (funny how some of the H&G team reacted with laugh+disbelieve when I said there is a photo) and here is another one similar to the one I have.
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It doesn't look like the middle newel post has the flared wood sides as depicted in some recent artwork.
 
Its too bad more photos like this don't surface. It would be nice to put to rest this back and forth "it looked this way" "no it looked this way" debate that still goes on today.Given the amount of people that sailed on Olympic during her 25 year career, I'd be willing to say that there are lots of photos tucked in family albums all over the world.Boy if I had some , I'd let everyone see them.
 
The the middle newel post at the forward C Deck landing had the flared wood sides.
 
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