Eiffel Tower Controversy, Wear History, Winter Shows

Did you know that the Eiffel Tower was originally despised by the art community? Story is at the center of our work at Compass Rose Design, and we often find that the real historical bits are even more fascinating and contain more intrigue and oddity than fantasy. Lately, I've been particularly captivated by the World's Expositions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries as the world was in the dynamic transition into the modern industrial age.

The 1889 Exposition took place in Paris, and was the occasion for which the great Eiffel Tower was constructed.  Showcasing the industrial and cultural wonders of the world, the Paris Exposition was also graced by Buffalo Bill and American sharpshooter Annie Oakley with their "Wild West Show."

The construction of the Eiffel Tower itself was delightfully controversial, met with the unconstrained complaints of the art establishment. In turn of the century Europe, art and engineering were distinct and separate disciplines.

 
During the planning of the tower, the Parisian art establishment published a scathing condemnation of the project:
"We, writers, painters, sculptors, architects and passionate devotees of the hitherto untouched beauty of Paris, protest with all our strength, with all our indignation in the name of slighted French taste, against the erection…of this useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower … To bring our arguments home, imagine for a moment a giddy, ridiculous tower dominating Paris like a gigantic black smokestack, crushing under its barbaric bulk Notre Dame, the Tour Saint-Jacques, the Louvre, the Dome of les Invalides, the Arc de Triomphe, all of our humiliated monuments will disappear in this ghastly dream. And for twenty years … we shall see stretching like a blot of ink the hateful shadow of the hateful column of bolted sheet metal" (from wikipedia)

It looks as though history resolved the matter. At any rate, may souvenirs, photos and other bits of history have survived from the Paris Exposition - saved in jewelry cases and cigar boxes and forgotten at the backs of drawers.   Let's take this 1889 watch fob we came across several weeks ago at a flea market and see what we can find. The watch fob, one of many commemorative souvenirs, was made by N.J. Schloss & Co.

Not only is it a delightful medal, but it's a time capsule filled with story. As pocket watches were firmly in fashion between 1850 up until the 1940s and 1950s, watch fobs were a popular souvenir item. This watch fob was made by the N.J. Schloss & Co. a New York-based clothing company as a commemoration of the medal they received at the Paris Exposition.  The Eiffel Tower and exposition grounds are visible in the foreground of the medal.

Though the Eiffel Tower was originally intended to be a temporary construction, it was of course never torn down and continues to serve as a monument to French culture, art, engineering, and industry.  Permits expired in 1909, but by the eve or World War I, powerful radio antennas were attached to the tower, which were later credited with jamming German communication systems to hindered the German approach. Originally a source of artistic contentiousness, the Eiffel Tower has become THE symbol of Paris and visited by more than 200 million people since the 1889 Exposition.

Now this history is wearable and available in our shop: 

Winter Events

• Modern Eden Trunk Show
  November 2, 2012 in San Francisco, Ca. 

• Bazaar Bizaare Holiday Show
  December 1 & 2, 2012 in San Francisco, Ca.

• Compass Rose Design Holiday Trunk Show
  December 8 & 9, 2012 in San Anselmo, Ca.
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On the Road, the Palace of Fine Arts & The Clothed Chameleon

The lovely Severine Arend of The Clothed Chameleon recently did a blog post and photo shoot featuring some Compass Rose Design Jewelry pieces. I love them! She also posted an interview, which I'll repost soon - but you can read it on her rather fabulous fashion and art blog.

Here is another featuring our honey bee cocktail ring:

One thing I like about Severine's photoshoot is that she invokes Bohemian Victorian elegance and can just as easily channel a bit of edge, mystery, darkness.

Johnny and I have been doing lots of shows and gallery visits in Northern California (were' now in Mazahar in Willits) this summer and I've been doing a lot of antiquing. I recently came across a couple of fabulous watch fobs - souvenirs from World's Fairs in Chicago in 1893 and Paris 1904 - they are beautiful!

The Chicago Fair, known as the World's Columbian Exposition  was officially a commemoration of the 400th anniversary of the landing of Columbus in the New World. Expositions showcases art, culture and industry - often leaving a long lasting impression (at least architecturally) in their host cities, as with Chicago. Frederic Law Olmstead, who designed Central Park, was involved in the Chicago fair, using the exhibition as an example of the ideal prototype city.  Neoclassical themes of balance and splendor in architecture and public space have left a lasting impression on the facade of their host cities.

Other fairs during the Victorian and Edwardian era in Paris, Chicago, San Francisco experienced similar legacies, though the landmarks are often no longer associated with exhibitions - the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, built for the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition.

I made the silver one into a necklace accented with blue crystal and hematite glass - elegant, but just as wearable with blue jeans, a white tee, and black boots. You can see it in our shop.

Fall Events

• Marin Handmade Evening of Art & Craft
  October 12, 2012 in San Rafael, Ca. 

• Bazaar Bizaare Holiday Show
  December 1 & 2, 2012 in San Francisco, Ca.

• Compass Rose Design Holiday Trunk Show
  December 8 & 9, 2012 in San Anselmo, Ca.
  (email compassrosejewelry(at!)gmail.com for info & directions)

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