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Exterior view looking south of the South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers')

Photograph
1856 (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
TitleExterior view looking south of the South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers') (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print
Brief description
Mounted albumen print, exterior view looking south, South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers') under construction, 1856
Physical description
An albumen print of a building under construction. The views shows the framing of the ground floor and first floors. Two workers are visible on the first floor. A single worker is visible on the ground floor. A ladder leads from the ground floor to the first floor.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 22.0cm
  • Image width: 24.6cm
  • Mount height: 26.8cm
  • Mount width: 33.3cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'England & Wales IIaa London: South Kensington [partially cut off] Museum Building 1856' (ink, recto mount)
  • 'A.b. LONDON Museum Building'
    Translation
    classification system label, lower right mount
  • library stamp
    Translation
    blindstamp [partial], upper centre mount
Subject 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.
Collection
Accession number
34991

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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