A scroll showing a highly detailed outdoor scene. Small figures—some alone or in pairs, some in large clusters—are set against a backdrop of houses, trees, and architecture, along the banks of a river. Pigment on silk.

Variation on the Qingming shanghe tu

Etching showing an empty thoroughfare in the city of Manchester with signs plastered over the closed shops and hotels to the effect of “Gone to the Great Exhibition”

George Cruikshank’s Manchester in 1851

Etching showing a maelstrom of people, animals, and goods, including musical instruments, ships, a train, and clothing, “exploding” away from the Crystal Palace, depicted in the background

George Cruikshank (1792–1878)
The Dispersion of the Works of all Nations from the Great Exhibition of 1851
Etching, 1851
The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Print Collection

The Dispersion of the Works of all Nations from the Great Exhibition of 1851

As many as 6 million people visited the Great Exhibition at the Crystal Palace exhibition hall in 1851. The show in London’s Hyde Park featured over 13,000 exhibits from more than 44 “Foreign States.” George Cruikshank’s prints comment humorously on this occasion, which is considered one of the defining moments of 19th-century invention and manufacture. Published to illustrate Henry Mayhew’s comical tale titled 1851: or, The Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Sandboys and Family, Who Came up to London to “Enjoy Themselves,” and to See the Great Exhibition, the print portrays the Crystal Palace exploding with artifacts from around the world.

Holding Division: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs, Print Co…

Not currently on view

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