-
Interior view: Crystal Palace
Delamotte, born 1820 - died 1889 - Enlarge image
Interior view: Crystal Palace
- Object:
Photograph
- Place of origin:
London, England (photographed)
- Date:
1854 (photographed)
- Artist/Maker:
Delamotte, born 1820 - died 1889 (photographer)
- Materials and Techniques:
Albumen print from collodion negative
- Museum number:
39:289
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F, case EDUC, shelf 4
This photograph of 1854 shows the interior of the Crystal Palace in south London. The Crystal Palace housed the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in 1851. It was relocated from its original site in Hyde Park in central London to Sydenham in the suburbs of south London. The British photographer Philip Henry Delamotte photographed the reconstruction of the Crystal Palace between 1851 and 1854.
This photograph shows the fountain, which was a popular meeting place during the exhibition. It also shows the transept. The Crystal Palace was the venue for various events such as exhibitions, music festivals and demonstrations of moving pictures. After the Festival of Empire in 1911 the building deteriorated further. Attempts to raise funds and to generate new interest in the building were mostly unsuccessful. The Crystal Palace was an unkempt relic from a past age by the time it was completely destroyed by a fire in 1936.
