View of the West Nave (from Recollections of the Great Exhibition)
Not on view
At the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, held in London in 1851, displays of art and manufacture were shown at the Crystal Palace, a specially-built glass and iron building in Hyde park designed by Joseph Paxton. Between May and October more than six million visitors flocked to view thousands of objects organized by theme and place of origin at the first world’s fair. This lithograph focuses on a Celtic cross in the West Nave sculpted by Harriet M. Ross of Rosstrevor, Ireland. Polished stone columns and a liturgical screen enrich the religious display, with the domestic sphere represented by a glass case of papier mâché objects submitted by Spiers & Son of Oxford, as carpets hang in the gallery above. Publishers Lloyd Brothers teamed with lithographers Day & Son to create the hand-colored set to which the print belongs, the whole offering well-to-do visitors a detailed and beautifully produced souvenir.
