Olympic Games/ Summer, 1948, London/ Official Olympic Torch. - Lot 228

Olympic Games/ Summer, 1948, London/ Official Olympic Torch. The emotional and symbolic charge of these XIV Olympic Games in the aftermath of the Second World War is particularly strong, and the Olympic relay from Olympia to London will be all the more beautiful for it.... This second Olympic torch is no longer made of steel, as was the case in 1936, but of aluminium, and is very open, like a flower blooming again. Its openwork hearth with three hollowed-out sets of five rings gives the torch a breath of fresh air, and the hearth has eight honeycombs to facilitate combustion in the lower part, topped by an insulating washer. The inscription on the hearth reads: "XIV th Olympiad 1948, Olympia to London, with thanks to the bearer...". Our model, which seems to have been little used, has been transformed by its bearer into a floor lamp, with bulb socket in the hearth...Very good condition. With wall-mounted bracket through which the wires pass. Can be re-used as is, or easily restored to its original condition without damage. H: 40,5. Just to clarify, these Games were those of Heinrich, Damitio, Zatopek, Dupont (see elsewhere) Reiff, Micheline Ostermeyer (748), Mimoun, Hansenne (151), d'Oriola, and Fanny Blankers-Koen, bib 692, please, who will be statued like her rival Ostermeyer. At last, the legend was back, though fortunately not on the flame. There are said to have been 1,741 unnumbered copies of this symbol, often kept by military bearers; remodeled, this torch still shone in Cortina and Melbourne. Can be reunited with lot 321.