Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 122

Ticket

1851 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was held in the purpose-built Crystal Palace in London’s Hyde Park in 1851. This season admission ticket is an example of Great Exhibition ephemera. The Great Exhibition included examples of industrial design and fine art from all around the world. Foreign travel was unusual at the time, and the exhibition enabled visitors to see the exotic and the unfamiliar for themselves. The most eager visitors acquired season tickets such as this for repeat visits. The exhibition was open from 1 May to 15 October, 1851. For the first four weeks, the tickets were priced at 5 shillings, making them unaffordable to large sections of society. On 26 May, the price was dropped to one shilling.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Materials and techniques
Engraving on card
Brief description
Unknown. Season ticket to the Great Exhibition, 1851. Engraving. British, 1851
Physical description
A pink card with decorative edging, text in the middle and on reverse.
Dimensions
  • Height: 4.5cm
  • Width: 8.3cm
Marks and inscriptions
Season Ticket of Admission To the Exhibition of the Works of Industry Of All Nations 1851. No 21810 Autograph signature of the Proprietor: Mary Ann Frodsham (in ink) (Text on the reverse side of the object: RULES This Ticket must be produced on every occasion when the Proprietor enters the Exhibition & the Proprietor must write her Name & Number in a book. If the Ticket be presented by any other person than the registered Proprietor it will be forfeited. Tickets lost cannot be replaced. A special entrance will be provided for Season Tickets at the South. The autograph signature of the Proprietor must be written on the face of it immediately after the number it bears.)
Credit line
Given by Mrs. Edith Williams
Subjects depicted
Summary
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was held in the purpose-built Crystal Palace in London’s Hyde Park in 1851. This season admission ticket is an example of Great Exhibition ephemera. The Great Exhibition included examples of industrial design and fine art from all around the world. Foreign travel was unusual at the time, and the exhibition enabled visitors to see the exotic and the unfamiliar for themselves. The most eager visitors acquired season tickets such as this for repeat visits. The exhibition was open from 1 May to 15 October, 1851. For the first four weeks, the tickets were priced at 5 shillings, making them unaffordable to large sections of society. On 26 May, the price was dropped to one shilling.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Engraving, Illustration and Design and Department of Paintings, Accessions 1937, London: Board of Education, 1938.
Collection
Accession number
E.47-1937

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Record createdFebruary 20, 2006
Record URL
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