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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: Find the Lost Ring
[PODCAST] New Podcast from Eli: "The Lost Rings"
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Canzonett
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 		[PODCAST] New Podcast from Eli: "The Lost Rings"
Ariadne just pointed out to me that Eli's latest podcast is online now:
http://www.thelostgames.com/6/podcast.do

Hendrik van Waalen? Never heard of him.

Maybe the Couberteam mails were no gamejacking thing after all?

A Danish man asking about "The Sixth Ring"? Brilliant, I understand Danish!


Quote:
The 1920 tax records for the city of Antwerp might not seem like the most excitingp lace to begin a story about a priceless work of art that's been missing for nearly a century, but history is a science of details. Sometimes you don't have much to go on, and even the tiniest fact can be a crucial piece of the puzzle. Sometimes you think you can see the whole picture, and then one little detail changes everything. In this case, the details are a ceremony in 1920 that didn't happen and a statue made in Antwerp that never existed. I'm Eli Hunt, and this is the legend of the lost rings.

Antwerp, in 1920, was a city in repair after WWI - and the place where the games of the 7th modern Olympiad took place. It was here that the Olympic logo of 5 interlocked rings was scheduled to debut. The logo was designed in 1913 and approved in 1914, but because of the war, there were no games until Antwerp. The logo was the very reason why I found himself in the city's tax archives 85 years later.

Several years earlier, I had come across an intriguing article in an old copy of the Gazet van Antwerpen, a daily Belgian newspaper. A small feature story in the February 24, 1920 edition announced that a group of donors ("een nog onbekende liefdadigheidschinstelling") planned to present IOC President Pierre de Coubertin with a metal sculpture replica of his logo at the games ("een metalen beeld in gelijkenis van het op de komende Zomer Spelen te introduceeren officiele symbool").

Curious to see a photograph of the scultpure, I searched dozens of news archives for a follow-up story, but I couldn't find any reference that such an event ever took place.

Tax records for a prominent artist named Hendrik van Waalen indicate that he was contracted to create five interlocking rings and that he purchased the necessary materials. (NB: van Waalen is mentioned in the newspaper article as well). It even seems that he was paid 406.500 francs for his work. However, there is no further information about who his clients were, and there's no evidence that the work was ever delivered, or even completed. In fact, the work order itself has the word "perdu" written across it. What could this mean? Did he lose the job? But why was he paid then? And what became of the five metal rings?

I started asking around among dealers in sculpture and metalwork. Hendrik van Waalen was well-known in Belgium at the time for his detailed work, and while obscure today, his name is still respected among collectors of fine craftsmanship. In fact, the sculpture is perhaps his most enduring legacy, even though I could not find a single person who had seen it. And more than one dealer I spoke to referred to the sculpture as the Lost Rings.

One art historian at a NY auction house told me the story as it's been passed down through the trade.

According to the legend, van Waalen was contracted by an anonymous client to create the sculpture. It was never intended for presentation to de Coubertin. But as excitement for the games mounted in the city, a writer for the Gazet saw van Waalen's work-in-progress and asked him about it. Van Waalen, reluctant to talk about the rings, asked his client, and the client instructed him to give the writer the false story that I had stumbled on decades later. Shortly thereafter, van Waalen declared the sculpture officially "lost", and the supposed presentation was forgotten.

About the sculpture itself, this much is known: It was composed of five interlocking rings, cast in metal. Supposedly they were not welded together, but rather, they could be detached one from another and put back together easily. It is also understood that they were engraved with some kind of message, though no one is clear on what that message might have been.

It's speculated that van Waalen did in fact complete the rings, and that they were delivered to the client, whoever he or she was. It's also believed that they may still exist in some form or another, either separately or together, in private collections. One dealer even told me of a Danish man who came to his office claiming to have information about the whereabouts of a work of craftsmanship that he called the "Sixth Ring". It was soon clear that the man was referring to Hendrik van Waalen's interlocking rings, but the fact that the man didn't know the piece's proper name or the number of rings in the sculpture was enought to convince the dealer that his story was fiction, and that whatever piece he might have seen, it most certainly was not The Lost Rings.

But I'm not so sure. Perhaps the logo and its metal counterpart are hiding a secret - a secret that the Danish collector understood. Who was Hendrik van Waalen's client
Why would they instruct him to lie to a journalist? How was the sculpture "lost"? And why the discrepancy in its name? Was there actually a sixth ring designed as part of the commission?

I've asked all the dealers I've spoken to what they would do if they found the rings. All of them have said they could sell them instantly, and from their tone, I presume they would bring a high price. I've asked who would buy the rings. Again the answer has been the same. All they will tell me is "collectors" ...

We may never know if Hendrik van Waalen's mysterious lost work ever really existed. But if it did, it is certain that even as I speak now, those "collectors" are doing everything they can to find it. And perhaps only when they succeed will we learn the truth about the lost rings and the secrets they were designed to keep.


PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2008 5:09 pm
Last edited by Canzonett on Fri May 30, 2008 3:29 am; edited 1 time in total
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Canzonett
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 		My transcription of the Belgian newspaper article - and a weak attempt of translating it (my Dutch is almost non-existent, so please correct me if you stumble across any mistakes in my translation!)

Quote:
ONBEKENDEN GEVEN OPDRACHT VOOR BEELD VOOR DE SPELEN

Een nog onbekende liefdadigheidschinstelling heeft opdracht gegeven voor het vervaardigen van een metalen beeld in gelijkenis van het op de komende Zomer Spelen te introduceeren officiele symbool. De Antwerpsche ijzersmid Hendrik van Waalen bevestigde de opdracht enkele maanden geleden ontvangen te hebben, maar wilde niet meer vrij laten dan "Wij wensen oprichter van het International Comité hiermee te eeren voor zijn bijdrage aan wereldvrede."

Het symbool dat met de Zomer Spelen van dit jaar geintroduceerd zal worden bestaat uit vijf geschakelde ringen die de vij wereld delen als één vereenigde wereld uitbeelden; een verenigde wereld waarin elk uitsluitend ten strijde gaat in sportieve competitie. Of de ringen in het beeld aan elkaar gesmeed worden is onduidelijk. Dhr. Van Waalen liet enkel vallen dat elke ring een inscriptie krijgt. Over de inscripties zelf zei Dhr. Van Waalen slechts "Het is de wens van mijn opdrachtgevers om de teksten ter verrassing te bewaren."

De oprichter van de spelen was de sleutelpersoon voor het in 1894 in ere herstellen der spelen uit de klassieke oudheid, bijna 2000 jaar nadat deze buiten de wet gesteld werden door de Griekse keizer Theodosius. Hij ontwierp het symbool al in 1913, maar politieke de consequenties van de Groote Oorlog hebben de introductie vertraagd tot de komende Zomer Spelen. Het Internationaal Comité zegt geen verband te hebben met de opdracht voor het beeld.


UNKNOWN PERSON COMMISSIONS SCULPTURE FOR THE GAMES

A still unknown charity organisation has commissioned the production of a metal sculpture in resemblance of the offical symbol that is to be introduced during the upcoming Summer Games. Iron Smith Hendrik van Waalen from Antwerp confirmed to have received the order some months ago, but didn't want to tell more than "With this, we wish to honour the founder of the International Committee for his contribution to world peace."

The symbol that shall be introduced with this year's Summer Games consists of five interlocking rings representing the five continents as ONE united world; one united world where everyone only fights in athletic competition. It is not clear whether the rings in the sculpture have been forged to each other. Mr. van Waalen mentioned that each ring is to be engraved with an inscription. About the inscriptions themselves Mr. van Waalen simply said: "It is my client's wish to keep the texts a surprise."


The founder of the games was the key person for the revival of the games known from the ancient world in 1894, almost 2000 years after these were banned by the Greek emperor Theodosius. He (WHO? THEODOSIUS?) designed the symbol already in 1913, but the political consequences of the Great War have delayed its introduction until the upcoming Summer Games. The International Committe claims to have to connection to the order of the sculpture.

(Wow, I didn't know I could translate anything from Dutch into English ...)

PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:26 pm
Last edited by Canzonett on Fri May 30, 2008 3:38 am; edited 2 times in total
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VictorSueiro
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 		TheO is looking for the Lost Ring?

PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:54 pm
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Oriza
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Quote:
The symbol that shall be introduced with this year's Summer Games consists of five interlocking rings representing the five continents as ONE united world; one united world where everyone only fights in athletic competition.


....Neopangaea, anyone?
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PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:01 pm
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lizmuir
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 		Tangent: Podcast icons?
So this doesn't have much to do with this specific podcast, but as I was watching it, I noticed that each podcast's "sound clip" icon in the right column is slightly different. Has anyone tried to figure out if they mean something?
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PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:49 pm
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mr.judkins
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 		I think there have been attempts to match the image to the wave form of each podcast to find out what part of it has been illustrated - but so far to no joy.

Not sure how far that effort got, though...

PostPosted: Thu May 29, 2008 7:55 pm
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jorgeguberte
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elite.fencer wrote:
Quote:
The symbol that shall be introduced with this year's Summer Games consists of five interlocking rings representing the five continents as ONE united world; one united world where everyone only fights in athletic competition.


....Neopangaea, anyone?


Yes, or, a lot of worlds at the Multiversal Olympics.
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PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 12:05 am
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Khaos
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 		Here is the translation of the french work order :

Quote:
Date of order : january 11th 19__

ORDER

Description of the work:
5 rings linked together
Material bought: steel
diameter of 38cm

Writings :
waiting details

payment received : 406,500 Francs

(On the bottom-right side)
Account number : ______
Date of order ______ ready :


P.S. : As a side note, 406,500 Francs in 1900 would translate to something like around 620 euros (960 dollars)

EDIT : Obviously i forgot the most important word "perdu"="lost" Smile
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PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 1:33 am
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Canzonett
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 		Nota bene: The following sentence from the newspaper article has been underlined (by Eli?) in the Fifth Trailer:
Quote:

Mr. van Waalen mentioned that each ring is to be engraved with an inscription.


PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 2:59 am
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amaretto01
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 		Number of continents....
... only five?
So maybe I might not be interpretting this in the correct context, but it seems to me there are more than five continents...

So here is my train of thought...

Obviously we recognize 7 continents...

But as Antarctica is a moot point in saying it would not be represented, that still leaves six:

North America
South America
Europe
Asia
Africa
Australia, our world's only island-continent


So... I'm not sure if Africa was represented at the 1913 (?) games, but it could also be that Australia wasn't included (though this is doubtful as it is a British Commonwealth and while it was still in it's early years of true development, I'm sure it's Motherland would have ensured Australia was represented)..

BUT... there is something else. In the recent information obtained by James, more than one city is listed in Australia, cementing my thoughts that this could possibly be an important tidbit in this "Lost Rings" sculpture...

Ok... just rambling... I will do searches and see what I find, but if anyone can clarify any of this, let me know! Smile

PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:49 am
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Canzonett
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 		Well, literally "de vijf wereld delen" means "the five parts of the world", and the Americas only count as one part here.
So: Europe - Africa - Asia - America - Australia.

And yes, Antarctica isn't counted. I guess because no one would think of having Olympic Games there ...

PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:55 am
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Khaos
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 		Re: Number of continents....
... only five?
amaretto01 wrote:
Obviously we recognize 7 continents...

But as Antarctica is a moot point in saying it would not be represented, that still leaves six:

North America
South America
Europe
Asia
Africa
Australia, our world's only island-continent


Actually Europe and Asia are on the exact same continent (plate wise : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Plates_tect2_en.svg)

So that would leaves Antartica to be the sixth, the "lost" one
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PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:57 am
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Canzonett
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 		Nonononono. Europe and Asia have always been counted as two different continents - not for geological/geographical, but for historical and cultural reasons.

And this is not about a "lost" continent (how should a continent get lost?), but about a lost metal ring, the symbolic meaning of which probably differs from that of the other five.

PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 3:59 am
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Khaos
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Canzonett wrote:
Nonononono. Europe and Asia have always been counted as two different continents - not for geological/geographical, but for historical and cultural reasons.


Sure, but if we're talking multiversal olympics, you can't separate these two. Or that means that the number 6 (6 agonothetai, 6 ring, ...) is only for our type of world ?
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PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 4:03 am
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Khaos
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Canzonett wrote:
And this is not about a "lost" continent (how should a continent get lost?), but about a lost metal ring, the symbolic meaning of which probably differs from that of the other five.


Why could the sixth metal ring not symbolizing a continent (or a part of the world) just like the others ?

First row (3 rings) : North America, Europe/Asia, Australia
Second row (2 rings) : South America, Africa
Third row (the sixth metal ring) : Antartica

If you throw in Asia, you'll have :
First row : North America, Europe, Asia
Second row : South America, Africa
Third row : Australia ?
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PostPosted: Fri May 30, 2008 4:17 am
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