The Smoking Room Chandelier

[Nicholas Massa]

In the Cincinnati exhibit there is a chandelier, said to be from the first class smoking room. While it does match stylistically to those seen in pictures (which I believe are all from Olympic) the number of sockets does not match. The one in the exhibit has five while the ones in the pictures have either three or eight. Does anyone know if this was changed between Olympic and Titanic, if perhaps they thought eight was too many or three too few? Or were these lights used elsewhere in the ship perhaps?

I'm working at the exhibit and it's something that has been bothering me for a while.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

I don't think you'll find that this chandelier was ever anywhere near the Titanic, much less installed on board. There just wouldn't have been a compelling reason to change them out much less swap them from one ship to another. If it came from any of the sisters, you might want to consider that it was intended for the Britannic.

Has anyone offered up any documentation to verify the provenance of this artifact? If not, it may be worth asking about.

 

[Nicholas Massa]

Well it certainly would be interesting if it were not from the Titanic as it is in the exhibit itself and was brought by RMS Titanic Inc. The only documentation I have is from RMS Titanic Inc and several pictures in other books of the artifact in question. Which leaves me with little to really work with.

I checked their online listing of artifacts and the chandelier in question is listed in the Ship Fittings H section under the Artifacts tab. The picture isn't all that great, but if you look closely you can count 5 'arms' on it, which differs from the 8 or 3 you see in pictures of the Smoking Room from Olympic. If you have the book Titanic & Her Sisters Olympic and Britannic the picture I've been using as reference is on the top of page 168.

If any of their reps stop by the exhibit I'll be sure and ask why the fixture is different.

 

[James Smith]

Nicholas, is the chandelier in pretty good shape, or is it pretty badly twisted?

I'm wondering whether it's the same one I saw at the Salt Lake City exhibit.

--Jim

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>If any of their reps stop by the exhibit I'll be sure and ask why the fixture is different.<<

It may well either be a replica or RMSTI could very well have recovered it from somewhere in the debris field. If it's the latter, then the fact of it being different wouldn't really be all that remarkable. While the two sisters had identical hulls and machinary, internally, they had some signifigent differences in arrangement and even the decor. Shipping lines frequently did things a bit differently in that regard so each ship could be seen to have a character all their own.

 

[Nicholas Massa]

Hey Jim - the chandelier is pretty badly twisted. I bet it is the same one you saw in Salt Lake City.

Michael - Thanks for the info. I was wondering if it was perhaps changed by WSL or H&W. I didn't know if the changed reflected experience on Olympic or if maybe you're right and that they changed it so they would have their own feel and look. When I noticed it it seemed odd that of all things to change that the light fixtures from the Smoking room seemed, in a way, silly. Perhaps they felt 8 lights per fixture were too many? Either way, it is interesting to see something that really was uniquely Titanic.

Thanks for the help! If anyone happens to come across any specific info about it, I'd love to hear it!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>> I was wondering if it was perhaps changed by WSL or H&W.<<

They might have. Harland and Wolff had a more or less free hand in such matters so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to make some minor changes. This sort of thing happens in shipbuilding all the time, albit with the concurrance of the line. White Star's approach was something along the lines of "Build us the best ship that you can, here's the money, make it happen."

Harland and Wolff did just that!

That's not to say White Star didn't pay attention to details on matters of decor. They did, but a change like this...IF it happened...wouldn't have been seen as a really big deal.

 

[Damon Hill]

I can't remember where, it might have been on this site somewhere, but I'm sure I've seen it mentioned that the chandeliers that hung from the ceilings in the bay window 'alcoves' were 5-pronged light fittings. I could well be wrong though

Damon

 

[JJAstorII]

In the Cincinnati exhibit there is a chandelier, said to be from the first class smoking room. While it does match stylistically to those seen in pictures (which I believe are all from Olympic) the number of sockets does not match. The one in the exhibit has five while the ones in the pictures have either three or eight. Does anyone know if this was changed between Olympic and Titanic, if perhaps they thought eight was too many or three too few? Or were these lights used elsewhere in the ship perhaps?

I'm working at the exhibit and it's something that has been bothering me for a while.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hey there! The smoking room had 3 and 8 bulbed electroliers and then they had 5 globed electroliers in the moulding around the windows/sides. So I don't see it not being from the TItanic wreck. I haven't seen a pic so I can only speak on what I've read, but I think they're accurate in their description