A Souvenir Fan: Mont Blanc and Crystal Palace.

Smith (Albert). (Folding Fan)

A Souvenir Fan: Mont Blanc and Crystal Palace.

Description: double-sided folding paper fan, the recto with three vignettes and title: 'The Crystal Palace Fan'; verso with three vignettes and title: 'Mr. Albert Smith's Ascent of Mont Blanc, Aug 12th and 13th 1851' a little faint creasing with some old water damage to the Mont Blanc side; mounted on wooden sticks, 25 cm (10 ins); initials L.D.E. on one of the sticks.

Publication Details: Paris: Leroux et Cie., [c. 1851]

Notes: An attractive folding fan commemorating two events of the early 1850s; Albert Smith's ascent of Mont Blanc in 1851, and the relocation of the Crystal Palace from its temporary home in Hyde Park to the top of Penge Hill in Sydenham, South London, in 1854.Crystal Palace was moved from Hyde Park following its six-month tenure for the Great Exhibition of 1851. When it reopened in 1854 in its new location it featured a much expanded structure, a 'Beaux-arts' form in glass and metal, framed by a new facade and served by an imposing set of terraces and stairways. This edifice features as the central...moreAn attractive folding fan commemorating two events of the early 1850s; Albert Smith's ascent of Mont Blanc in 1851, and the relocation of the Crystal Palace from its temporary home in Hyde Park to the top of Penge Hill in Sydenham, South London, in 1854.Crystal Palace was moved from Hyde Park following its six-month tenure for the Great Exhibition of 1851. When it reopened in 1854 in its new location it featured a much expanded structure, a 'Beaux-arts' form in glass and metal, framed by a new facade and served by an imposing set of terraces and stairways. This edifice features as the central vignette here, flanked by its famous Alhambra Gallery and Pompeii Court on either side. The surrounding area was of course renamed Crystal Palace in honour of the structure, and so it remains, despite the building's destruction by fire in 1936. The reverse of the fan commemorates a quite different British endeavour; attractive vignettes by Brioude La Guerre depict Albert Smith's famous ascent of Mont Blanc. The forbidding peak in the centre is offset by a charming illustration of Smith and his party sliding back down during their descent. Smith (1816-1860) climbed Mont Blanc on 12 August 1851 with three Oxford students and sixteen guides. He was both a mountaineer (later a founder member of the Alpine Club), and a master self-publicist: 'on 15 March 1852 'Mr. Albert Smith's Ascent of Mont Blanc' opened at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, on a stage resembling a Swiss chalet. He interspersed descriptions of his journey to Chamonix with patter songs lampooning British tourists in Europe, and St Bernard dogs roamed the hall during the intermission' (ODNB). The show, which culminated in his dramatic account of the ascent, 'was a sensational success, ran for six years, and earned him a fortune. Much of the income came from merchandise, including colouring-books, fans, games, and miniature replicas of the mountain (ibid.)'. Although a French production, this fan predicts this kind of promotional material; it juxtaposes Smith's Swiss exploits with the enduring structural legacy of the Great Exhibition. HIDE