Chandeliers and the Law at the Temple of Justice
Part Three
This is the third entry in an on-going series, “Chandeliers and the Law at the Temple of Justice,” about the legal symbols on the Tiffany chandeliers in the Main Reading Room and the courtroom in the Temple of Justice. Previous posts have examined the images of the Flaming Sword and Fasces.
The Olympic torch and laurel is one of the more puzzling inclusions of the six images of law chosen by the Tiffany & Co. designer in 1921 or early 1922. The artist’s inclusion of both symbols leads to no other interpretation but a nod to the Olympic myth. The games were recreated in the modern era, starting in Athens, Greece in 1896. Interestingly, the Olympic fire was not included until the 1928 Olympic Games, after the design and installation of the chandeliers. The tradition of the Olympic torch relay from Olympia, Greece to the site of the games was not added until 1936.
Given the timeline, it is unlikely that the chandelier’s designer was primarily interested in the modern Olympic movement. More likely, the torch and laurel were added to the chandeliers to either honor Olympia, Washington and the region or to directly harken back to the original games in Olympia, Greece and the eternal fire lit there at the Temple to Zeus.
Olympia was named by Isaac N. Ebey, a local resident who suggested the name to Edmund Sylvester and Levi Lathrop Smith, the first American settlers, when they were filing the official plat in 1850. From 1846 to 1850, Olympia was known alternatively as Smither, Smithster, or Smithfield. Ebey suggested the permanent name to honor the view of the Olympic Mountains. Mount Olympus was named in 1788 by an English explorer, Captain John Meares, as the size and grandeur reminded him of the home of the Greek gods.
The original Olympic Games in ancient Greece were held in Olympia, starting in 776 BCE. They were both a religious ceremony and a large athletic fair. Greek temples included an eternal flame representing the eternal flame of the gods on Mount Olympus. This flame was stolen by the titan Prometheus as a gift to newly created humans to allow them to reach civilization. This myth is often symbolized by a torch, as seen in the painting by Jean Simon Berthelemy on the ceiling on the ceiling of the Louvre. Thus, the torch and laurel represent progress and civilization, including a reference back to ancient Greek myth and culture and the settlement of western Washington. (RM)
