T is for Tutankhamun and Torches

We’ve already talked a bit about Tutankhamun, and the finding and opening of his tomb in 1922, under E is for Egyptomania, and N is for Nymphaea Lotus, and Nymphaea Caerulea, so instead, let’s have a look at another popular Art Deco motif – torches!

The Art Deco style was keen on its motifs, and things like sunbursts and bright colours were used widely. I guess torches could fall into this theme, unless, in 1931, people were looking forward to the spectacle that would be the 1932 Olympics, which was bigger and better than any that had come before! Or maybe it was just to do with the name of the building, and the trade of previous landlords!

I say 1931, because the best example of torches as ornamentation on an Art Deco building in Loughborough appear on a building constructed in 1931! We’ve actually seen this building before under Keystones, and I’m pretty sure we’ll see it again, but just look at these wonderful impressions of torches, which adorn the end pillars of the building, on both the top and the bottom of the frontage onto Wards End and that facing Brown’s Lane!! There are 8 in total! Firstly, a photograph of the frontage onto Wards End, and a close up of the top right hand torch. Then the corner of the building where Wards End meets Browns Lane, with a close up of that corner pillar. Finally, a close up of the torch furthest along Browns Lane, towards Royland Road.

 

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I'm taking part in the A-Z April Blogging Challenge!!

 

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2025). T is for Tutankhamun and Torches. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/04/t-is-for-tutankhamun-and-torches.html [Accessed 23 April 2025]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

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Lynne

E is for Egyptomania

For today’s A-Z April Art Deco Blogging Challenge, I was originally torn between going into [too much!] detail about Egyptomania, and some detail about the Paris Expo of 1925. But, instead I included details of the Expo under letter A, where I explained how the Art Deco movement was only named in the 1960s, and how it was a name that was influenced by that 1925 exhibition. So, let’s look at the influence of Egypt!

Egyptomania – an enthusiasm for all things Egyptian, particularly Ancient Egyptian – has always been a thing! The Western world has always been fascinated by Ancient Egypt and Egyptian motifs, and Western interpretations of these, have been around for centuries.

However, when in 1922 the tomb of King Tutankhamun was discovered, and subsequently opened, by Howard Carter, there was a renewed interest in Egyptian designs and artefacts. These Egyptian ideas were incorporated in, and became part of, the visual culture, including in the UK. They were adopted in many aspects, including fashion, like jewellery and clothing, furnishings, and in architecture.

We saw in D is for Diamonds, the brightly coloured painted columns on a shop on Ashby Road, which somehow hints at Egyptian decoration

But, our most magnificent Egyptian treasure is hiding behind some wooden covering, so not easy to spot! The building on Swan Street that was once home to the Echo Press shows off many of the features of Art Deco architecture exceedingly well, and it is here that the Egyptian columns can be found. They are hiding as when the road was open to two-way traffic one of the columns was hit and damaged by a lorry. First we have an aerial view of Swan Street, with the Echo Press building closest, and then a view of the two columns, with their stunning colours.

 

 

____________________________________ 

I'm taking part in the A-Z April Blogging Challenge!!

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2025). E is for Egyptomania. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/03/e-is-for-egyptomania.html  [Accessed 5 April 2025]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne