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Exterior view of the Sheepshanks Gallery (Gallery 26) under construction, South Kensington Museum

Photograph
1857 (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 Sheepshanks Gallery (Gallery 26) under construction, South Kensington Museum (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print
Brief description
Mounted albumen print, exterior view, Sheepshanks Gallery (Gallery 26) under construction, South Kensington Museum, 1857
Physical description
A mounted albumen print of a building under construction and surrounded by scaffolding. Mounds of dirt and building supplies litter the site. Two ladders lean against the building reaching to upper floors. A worker sits with his head in his hand in front of the building. a coat hangs from a scaffolding support on the upper floor. What appears to be a church tower is visible in the background.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 19.4cm
  • Image width: 29.4cm
  • Mount height: 26.8cm
  • Mount width: 33.2cm
  • Mount height: 38.2cm
  • Mount width: 53.6cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
  • 'A.b. LONDON' (classification system label)
  • library stamp (blindstamp, upper centre mount)
  • 'South Kensington' (ink, lower right mount)
  • 'S. K. Museum. Progress. Exterior' (ink, lower right mount)
  • '934' (ink, upper right mount)
Subjects 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.
Associated object
33:958 (Copy)
Other number
934 (MA/32/4) - Negative number (V&A Archive Guard Book reference)
Collection
Accession number
33972

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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