Exterior view of the South Kensington Museum (the 'Brompton Boilers') under construction
Photograph
c. 1856 (photographed)
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.
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 | |
| Title | Exterior 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 |
|
| Marks and inscriptions | 'South Kensington
Victoria & Albert Museum
Museum Building
by Corp. J. Milliken 1856?
NEG No 80110
F495'
|
| Gallery label | 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.(May 2023) |
| 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 |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | 34990 |
About this object record
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| Record created | July 1, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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