Exposition

3685 — A lovely wooden game made for the 1889 Exposition Universelle in Paris containing a construction game illustrating six important buildings of the exhibition: Pavilion des Beaux-Arts; Palais de Trocadero; Ministére de la Guerre; Maison Égyptienne; Panorama Transatlantique and Fellah une Rue au Caire lacking one piece at top. A rare and wonderful 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle game with fifty-three of fifty-four original wooden blocks color chromo-lithographed on upper panels. All contained in the original red paper covered wooden box with the dark red cardboard box lid printed in gold and decoratively bordered in various colors. Near fine.<br/><br/>A very rare original game of the famous 1889 World's Exhibition in Paris which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille an event considered symbolic of the beginning of the French Revolution. The fair included a reconstruction of the Bastille and its surrounding neighborhood but with the interior courtyard covered with a blue ceiling decorated with fleur-de-lys and used as a ball room and gathering place.<br/><br/>The main symbol of the Fair was the Eiffel Tower which served as the entrance arch to the Fair. Since the lifts had not been completed when the Exposition opened the first visitors had to walk up to the second floor platform. Workers had worked through the night the day before the exhibition opened to complete the necessary construction needed to safely allow patrons to set foot upon the structure. When speaking of the dedicated workers M. Salles the son-in-law of Eiffel made the statement that "no soldier on the battle field deserved better mention than these humble toilers who will never go down in history. unknown books