Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 601, Box 1

London: South Kensington Museum, Photograph of the making of the museum, 1857

Photograph
1857 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Photographs and photographers were present from the very beginning of the V&A's history and the Museum has an extensive collection of images from the 1850s through to the present which documents the construction and development of the V&A and the South Kensington site.

Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these topographic and architectural views were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • London: South Kensington Museum, Photograph of the making of the museum, 1857 (popular title)
  • South Kensington Museum, the 'Brompton Boilers', Art Museum showing mainly textiles (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print
Brief description
Photograph, 'South Kensington Museum, the 'Brompton Boilers', Art Museum showing mainly textiles', albumen print, ca. 1857
Physical description
A mounted albumen print of textile samples, some framed and mounted on partitions in an exhibition space with skylights and suspended gas lamps.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 247mm
  • Image width: 295mm
  • Card height: 268mm
  • Card width: 331mm
Marks and inscriptions
  • London: South Kensington Museum, / Photograph of the making of the / museum, 1857 (Label, bottom right side.)
  • 'A.b. LONDON /LONDON: South Kensington Museum. / Photograph of the making of the Museum, 1857' (department classification label, lower right mount)
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Photographs and photographers were present from the very beginning of the V&A's history and the Museum has an extensive collection of images from the 1850s through to the present which documents the construction and development of the V&A and the South Kensington site.

Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these topographic and architectural views were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography.
Associated object
4972-1910 (Version)
Bibliographic reference
Julius Bryant, ed. Art and Design for All. The Victoria and Albert Museum London: V&A Publishing, 2011. ISBN: 9781851776665.
Other number
949 (MA/32/4); GE2001 (MA/32/555) - Negative number (V&A Archive Guard Book reference)
Collection
Accession number
1951-1938

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest