Prince Albert's monumental Great Exhibition of 1851 at the Crystal Palace at Hyde Park was comprised of over 13,000 exhibits and was the first international exhibition of its kind, attracting more than six million visitors in a few months.
Here, we see a watercolor from a group of images entitled "Recollections of the Great Exhibition." These images were reproduced as a lavish contemporary souvenir guide. This and other of the original images are housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum. Profits from the Great Exhibition were used to fund what is now the Victoria and Albert Museum, whose earliest surviving building was erected in 1857.
The title of this watercolor, "Part of the French Court, No. 1 (Sèvres)," refers to the dazzling exhibit of porcelain by the Sèvres factory. According to the V& A, "The large ebony cabinet in the foreground was probably the combined work of the French foundry Barbedienne & Co. and their British agents, Jackson & Graham. Its bronze decorations are reduced versions by Jean-Baptiste Clesinger of works by Michelangelo and Ghiberti."
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