Item 39 - Christmas card of scene from the ceremony of opening the Crystal Palace at Sydenham performed by Queen Victoria 10th June 1854

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Reproduced from the painting in the Society's collection, attributed to Joseph Nash (1808-1878). The Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert, the Princess Royal and Prince Alfred, together with the King of Portugal, appear in the centre of the picture, amidst a huge throng of spectators. The Great Exhibition of 1851, house in Sir Joseph Paxton's original Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, was set up by the Society of Arts as a showcase for the industry of all nations but especially that of Britain, then nearing its apogee. When the exhibition closed the structure was bought by the Crystal Palace Company, dismantled, and in an enlarged form devised by Paxton, re-erected at Sydenham, a labour of an immensity in keeping with the concept of the exhibition itself and with Victorian ambition and confidence. Until its destruction by Fire in November 1936 the 'new' Crystal Palace was the leisure resort of vast numbers of Londoners and a centre for recreational and cultural activities. Particularly notable for fostering musical appreciation in this country were the series of concerts initiated and organized by Sir George Grove, first Secretary to the Crystal Palace Company and Secretary of the Society of Arts at the time of the Great Exhibition. 70,530 copies sold.

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C/28/5

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Creator Victoria 22/12/1998