RMS Olympic Smoking Room Ceiling Architrave

This large piece of carved oak architrave once adorned the ceiling of the Olympic’s Smoking Room, where first-class passengers, millionaires, and royalty relaxed after an evening meal. Identical woodwork adorned the Titanic’s Smoking Room ceiling.

At 1.5 meters in length, this piece of the ceiling architrave was part of a larger pattern, which comprised of a central star surrounded by a larger circular star. On the back, it is marked “J Star” in pencil. The “J” likely references the place in the architrave sequence (from A to Z), aiding the carpenters to cut, detail, and place each part in the correct sequence.

A pure white border runs alongside a raised central area, which still bears the remnants of the original gold paint. This piece of architrave was fitted to the Smoking Room ceiling for the entirety of the Olympic’s 24-year service at sea and is in remarkable condition considering the amount of cigarette and cigar smoke that would have once poured across it.