Exterior view of the South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers') under construction thumbnail 1

Exterior view of the South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers') under construction

Photograph
c. 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 of the South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers') under construction (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print
Brief description
Mounted albumen print, Second Corporal J. Milliken, exterior view, South Kensington Musem (the 'Brompton Boilers') under construction, c. 1856
Physical description
A mounted albumen print of a building under construction. On the upper level, four workman are visible. The torso and heads of a group of workmen at ground level are also visible.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 19cm
  • Image width: 21.8cm
  • Mount height: 26.8cm
  • Mount width: cm
  • Mount height: 38.1cm
  • Mount width: 53.5cm
Marks and inscriptions
'South Kensington Victoria & Albert Museum Museum Building by Corp. J. Milliken 1856? NEG No 80110 F495'
Transliteration
ink and pencil, mount
Gallery label
(May 2023)
Soldiers from the Royal Engineers corps built the first part of the South Kensington Museum, now the V&A. The museum’s official photographer, Charles Thurston Thompson, taught these men photography as a skill they could use on military expeditions. This picture is a result of that relationship and documents the labour and construction involved in building the museum. It also demonstrates the value of photography to the V&A since its inception.
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.
Other numbers
  • 80110 (MA/32/257) - Negative number (V&A Archive Guard Book reference)
  • F495 (MA/32/272) - Negative number (V&A Archive Guard Book reference)
Collection
Accession number
34990

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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