Plan of Victoria and Albert Museum, East, West and Cross Galleries
Plan
ca. 1898 - ca. 1910 (made)
ca. 1898 - ca. 1910 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
From the late 1860s to the 1950s, the area of South Kensington now occupied by Imperial College, and bordered to the north and south by Prince Consort's Road and Imperial Institute Road, housed two ranges of gallery space (opened 1871). Designed by Henry Scott with assistance from J. W. Wild, these had been intended to form a smaller, permanent equivalent of the temporary buildings that had housed the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the exhibition of 1862. The layout, of two separate galleries at the east and west sides of the site, derived from the fact that the block of land was already home to the garden of the Royal Horticultural Society. This photolithograph of a plan shows the changes that had been carried out by the late 1890s, with the construction of Prince Consort's Road, Imperial Institute Road and two central ranges (built 1891-2; the northernmost is the one seen here) between the east and west galleries. By this time, further structures were also being erected between the two galleries: namely the Royal College of Music (not shown) and Imperial Institute (southern façade shown in outline at the base of the plan). The west gallery, at the close of the nineteenth century, housed a science collection; the east gallery, as it had since 1880, housed the Indian Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The west, east and central galleries were demolished between 1956 and ca. 1962.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Plan of Victoria and Albert Museum, East, West and Cross Galleries (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | photolithograph with hand-colouring, on paper backed with linen |
| Brief description | Plan of Victoria and Albert Museum, East, West and Cross Galleries (Imperial Institute site), about 1898-1910 |
| Physical description | Photolithograph with hand-colouring, on paper backed with linen, comprising a plan and sections of the 'East, West and Cross Galleries' (demolished between ca. 1956 and ca. 1962; site now occupied by Imperial College). The plan shows the ground-floor layout of the eastern and western galleries. These two long ranges run north-south and contain five principal rooms, terminated at the northern end by a staircase block and at the southern end by a staircase block and corner pavilion. Joining the ranges to form an 'H' is the cross gallery, of which the plan shows the first-floor layout. The sheet also contains nine sections of the buildings. In the case of the western and eastern ranges, these detail round-arched windows on the outer elevations of the ground floor, and coved ceilings at first-floor level. The first floor of the cross gallery is shown barrel-vaulted, with a pilastered central room. The southern façade of the Imperial Institute, by the 1890s occupying part of the space between the east and west ranges, is outlined at the base of the drawing. Entitled 'VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM. PLAN OF EAST, WEST AND CROSS GALLERIES'. Printed and handwritten annotations; two scale bars; some measurements. |
| Dimensions |
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| Places depicted | |
| Summary | From the late 1860s to the 1950s, the area of South Kensington now occupied by Imperial College, and bordered to the north and south by Prince Consort's Road and Imperial Institute Road, housed two ranges of gallery space (opened 1871). Designed by Henry Scott with assistance from J. W. Wild, these had been intended to form a smaller, permanent equivalent of the temporary buildings that had housed the Great Exhibition of 1851 and the exhibition of 1862. The layout, of two separate galleries at the east and west sides of the site, derived from the fact that the block of land was already home to the garden of the Royal Horticultural Society. This photolithograph of a plan shows the changes that had been carried out by the late 1890s, with the construction of Prince Consort's Road, Imperial Institute Road and two central ranges (built 1891-2; the northernmost is the one seen here) between the east and west galleries. By this time, further structures were also being erected between the two galleries: namely the Royal College of Music (not shown) and Imperial Institute (southern façade shown in outline at the base of the plan). The west gallery, at the close of the nineteenth century, housed a science collection; the east gallery, as it had since 1880, housed the Indian Section of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The west, east and central galleries were demolished between 1956 and ca. 1962. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.1053-1927 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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