Fact Check: Real Photo Shows Statue of Liberty's Torch Being Made in 19th Century?

Claim:

A photograph genuinely shows the construction of the Statue of Liberty's torch in 19th-century France.

Rating:

True ( About this rating? )

Context:

An archived version of the photo did not include a date when it was taken, though construction of the statue occurred between 1881 and 1884. Furthermore, a version of the image in question circulating on social media appears to have been edited from its original form.

An image supposedly showing the 19th-century construction of the Statue of Liberty's torch has circulated in online channels for years. Snopes found the photo has been shared since at least 2017 , with one iteration shared to X on Oct. 30, 2023, that had received more than 87,000 views at the time of this publication:

The above image is genuine and indeed shows the construction of the Statue of Liberty's flame. For this reason, we have rated this claim as "True."

However, archival records of the image do not include a date for when the photograph was taken.

Matt Housch, curator of collections at the Statue of Liberty National Monument , told Snopes the photograph in question is also called "The Torch at Monduit, Gaget, Gauthier et. Cie." and "does depict the fabrication of the hand/torch/flame of the Statue of Liberty in Paris."

The photograph was likely taken in early summer 1876 before the flame was sent to the U.S. that August.

The photograph is also credited in the book " Liberty: The French-American Statue in Art and History ," Housch said.

A reverse image search also led ( archived ) to a blog published by the University of Missouri, Kansas City that displays pieces archived by the Dr. Kenneth J. LaBudde Department of Special Collections and the Marr Sound Archives.

An original version of the photograph , shown below, was included in a collection published on the blog in 2013.

(Photo courtesy of the LaBudde Special Collections)

A description that accompanied the blog read:

With "Ornements en plomb & cuivre repoussé" by the foundries of Maison Monduit & Bechet and Monduit, Gaget, Gauthier & Cie we see history literally in the making. This set of 10 photoprints highlighting the foundries' work was commissioned for the 1878 Paris World's Fair or the (Exposition Universelle) and shows various buildings such as the Palace of Justice that they worked on. Also in the photos are two showing what is arguably their most famous work, the Statue of Liberty. One photo show's her torch-bearing arm under construction in a workshop with a small scale model nearby and dozens of workmen.

The photo above includes a Parisian address, 25 Rue de Chazelles, which, according to the U.S. Embassy in France , was where the Statue of Liberty was built. The agency wrote:

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi entrusted the construction of the iron frame to Gustave Eiffel's company. The roofing, plumbing and boilermaking company Gaget et Gauthier, which had already distinguished itself by restoring the Vendôme column in 1873, was chosen to assemble the statue. For this purpose, it rented a 3,000 square meter plot of land on Rue de Chazelles, right next to its workshops.

…

In 1885, the statue was finally completed. All that remained was to dismantle it and transport it. Each of the 350 pieces that made it up was numbered, then divided into 210 crates, including 36 for rivets and bolts, then transported by train from the Saint-Lazare station to Rouen. Transported by boat, reassembled in four months, Liberty Enlightening the World was finally inaugurated in New York on October 28, 1886, ten years behind schedule.

The version of the image circulating on social media appears to have been edited and cropped, as shown below in a side-by-side comparison of the original (right) and the photo on Reddit (left).

(Snopes compilation)

Another photograph housed in the collection shows "the completed head on display at the World's Fair, which was set up June 30, 1878, for display" in Paris.

(Photo courtesy of the LaBudde Special Collections)

"These two photos are an incredible piece of both American and French history and are definitely one of the treasures of the LaBudde Special Collections," the UMKC blog said.

The National Park Service wrote that the Statue of Liberty, formally known as "The Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World," was a gift of friendship from the people of France to the U.S. The entire statue was completed and assembled in Paris between 1881 and 1884. It was dedicated on Oct. 28, 1886, and designated a national monument in 1924.

According to the Ellis Island Foundation , the statue's torch is a "symbol of enlightenment, lighting the way to freedom and showing us the path to Liberty." The original torch was replaced in 1986 during the statue's centennial restoration and now has a copper flame covered in 24-karat gold.

Sources:

"About Us." Scripts and Grooves, 25 Apr. 2013, https://info.umkc.edu/specialcollections/about .

City, Mailing Address: Receiving Office 1. Ellis Island Jersey, and NJ 07305 Phone: 212 363-3200 Contact Us. Creating the Statue of Liberty - Statue Of Liberty National Monument (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/stli/learn/historyculture/places_creating_statue.htm . Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.

---. Statue Of Liberty National Monument (U.S. National Park Service). https://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm . Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.

Evon, Dan. "Snopes Tips: A Guide To Performing Reverse Image Searches." Snopes, 22 Mar. 2022, https://www.snopes.com//articles/400681/how-to-perform-reverse-image-searches/ .

France, U. S. Mission to. "25, rue de Chazelles – Ateliers de la fonderie Gaget et Gauthier." Ambassade et consulats des États-Unis d'Amérique en France, 24 Mar. 2023, https://fr.usembassy.gov/fr/25-rue-de-chazelles-ateliers-de-la-fonderie-gaget-et-gauthier/ .

"Liberty 135." Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, 25 Oct. 2021, https://www.statueofliberty.org/liberty135/ .

"September 2013." Scripts and Grooves, 30 Sept. 2013, https://info.umkc.edu/specialcollections/archives/date/2013/09 .

TinEye Reverse Image Search. https://www.tineye.com/search/41d202fa5748ad80f63efb9422dc59f7139118a7?sort=crawl_date&order=asc&page=3 . Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.