France, from An Overland Journey to the Great Exhibition
After Richard Doyle British
Engraver Dalziel Brothers British
Publisher Chapman and Hall British
Not on view
London's Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was held in 1851 at the Crystal Palace, a huge glass-and-cast-iron hall specially erected in Hyde Park. International displays devoted to art, technology, and manufacturing delighted six million visitors over a five-month period. Humorist Richard Doyle commemorated the multinational character of the event with a panoramic wood engraving that gently makes fun of the participants. Eight panels approach nine feet in length when fully opened, but fold neatly into cardboard covers and can be viewed a few at a time. This third scene representing France echoes recent political upheavals. Frenchmen of various ranks and professions carry a liberty tree hung with symbols both republican and royal, referring to the revolutions of 1789 and 1848 and subsequent restorations of the crown. Doyle used a medley of stereotypes to comment ironically on the fair's vaunted internationalism.