The Great Exhibition of the Works of All Nations. (Commemorative Textile Print)
1851 London
(London). (W. & E. G. Orme, Printers). 1851
A wonderful example of a very scarce textile roller print - a remarkable survival showing the repeated image - commemorating the Great Exhibition of 1851.
The textile is printed in shades of blue, green and ochre and shows the silhouette of the Crystal Palace beneath a blue sky and in the foreground a selection of visitors to the Great Exhibition in contemporary dress and national costume; at left, above and beneath is an elaborate border of flowers. The central image is repeated four times as printed while at the head and foot of the textile are partial sections of the same.
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, in which 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the 990,000 square feet of the Crystal Palace, was a showcase for art, manufacture and design. The Crystal Palace itself, designed by Joseph Paxton, was built in just 39 weeks in Hyde Park. The Great Exhibition was open from May 1st to October 15th, 1851.
Other examples of this scarce textile may be found at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (a section 184 x 71cm) and the RISD Museum, Rhode Island (a smaller section 70 x 70cm), the latter containing just one and a half iterations of the repeated pattern. The Philadelphia example is similarly coloured to this, while the RISD example lacks the blue sky present here and has the foreground coloured green (uncoloured here). An example preserved at the V & A shows further variations in colouring and suggests that different versions were available at the time. This example is remarkable in that it shows the repeated design rather than a section thereof.
The design by Orme appears to be based on the frontispiece in John Tallis's History and Description of the Crystal Palace, published in 1851.
[see Linda Parry's 'British Textiles from 1850 to 1900', London, 1993].
The textile is printed in shades of blue, green and ochre and shows the silhouette of the Crystal Palace beneath a blue sky and in the foreground a selection of visitors to the Great Exhibition in contemporary dress and national costume; at left, above and beneath is an elaborate border of flowers. The central image is repeated four times as printed while at the head and foot of the textile are partial sections of the same.
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, in which 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the 990,000 square feet of the Crystal Palace, was a showcase for art, manufacture and design. The Crystal Palace itself, designed by Joseph Paxton, was built in just 39 weeks in Hyde Park. The Great Exhibition was open from May 1st to October 15th, 1851.
Other examples of this scarce textile may be found at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (a section 184 x 71cm) and the RISD Museum, Rhode Island (a smaller section 70 x 70cm), the latter containing just one and a half iterations of the repeated pattern. The Philadelphia example is similarly coloured to this, while the RISD example lacks the blue sky present here and has the foreground coloured green (uncoloured here). An example preserved at the V & A shows further variations in colouring and suggests that different versions were available at the time. This example is remarkable in that it shows the repeated design rather than a section thereof.
The design by Orme appears to be based on the frontispiece in John Tallis's History and Description of the Crystal Palace, published in 1851.
[see Linda Parry's 'British Textiles from 1850 to 1900', London, 1993].
(2000 x 600 mm). Colour roller print on two sections of woven cotton, four repeated images (with two partial sections at head and foot); printed by William & George Orme of 62, Frith Street, Soho.
#48521
