The Inauguration

Joseph Nash (1808 - 1878)

Colour lithograph

published 1854

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Department for International Trade, Old Admiralty Building

    The opening ceremony of ‘The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations’ of 1851, illustrated here, was later described in ‘Dickinson's Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition’ (1854):


    ‘The sun rose bright on the morning of the 1st May 1851... The birthday of the Exhibition of Industry of All Nations had arrived, and from early day-break, the note of preparation was sounded, announcing the interest which all classes of the population took in the inauguration of that great undertaking... in that vast concourse, [the observer] could behold the loyalty of the English people and their love for the Sovereign of their land, a love which was never more enthusiastically manifested than when Her Majesty’s entry was greeted by the sublime music of our National Chant.’

  • About the artist
    Joseph Nash was born at Great Marlow; the son of a clergyman. He was a pupil of Augustus Charles Pugin, with whom he travelled to Paris in 1829 to make drawings for ‘Paris and its Environs’ (1830). He also lithographed plates for Pugin's ‘Views Illustrative of Examples of Gothic Architecture’ (1830), ‘Architecture of the Middle Ages’ (1838) and ‘The Mansions of England in the Olden Times’ (1839-49). He exhibited from 1831 to 1879, chiefly at the British Institution, the Old Watercolour Society and the New Watercolour Society. His exhibits included architectural subjects and designs from Shakespeare, Scott and Cervantes. His most typical works are interiors of Tudor or Elizabethan mansions peopled with figures. He died at 69, in Kensington.
  • Explore
    Places
    England, London, Hyde Park, The Crystal Palace
    Subjects
    statue (as Subject), Victorian Genre, tree, man, woman, crowd, 19th century costume, dress, military uniform, chandelier, flag, Prince Consort, Queen, sword, soldier, Great Exhibition, royal opening, dais, fountain, balcony, public interior, gallery space
    Materials & Techniques
    lithograph, colour lithograph
  • Details
    Artist
    Joseph Nash (1808 - 1878)
    Title
    The Inauguration
    Date
    published 1854
    Medium
    Colour lithograph
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Campden Gallery, 1948
    GAC number
    687