| International Exhibition | |
|---|---|
 1862 International Exhibition, South Kensington | |
| Overview | |
| BIE-class | Universal exposition |
| Category | Historical Expo |
| Name | International Exhibition |
| Area | 11 ha (27 acres) |
| Invention(s) | Analytical engine |
| Visitors | 6,096,617 |
| Participant(s) | |
| Countries | 39 |
| Location | |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| City | London |
| Venue | Kensington Exhibition Road |
| Coordinates | 51°30′1.4″N0°10′33.2″W / 51.500389°N 0.175889°W /51.500389; -0.175889 |
| Timeline | |
| Opening | (1862-05-01) (1862-11-15)May 1 – November 15, 1862 (6 months and 2 weeks) |
| Closure | 15 November 1862 (1862-11-15) |
| Universal expositions | |
| Previous | Exposition Universelle (1855) inParis |
| Next | Exposition Universelle (1867) in Paris |
TheInternational Exhibition of 1862, officially theLondon International Exhibition of Industry and Art, also known as theGreat London Exposition, was aworld's fair held from 1 May to 1 November 1862 inSouth Kensington,London, England. The site now houses museums including theNatural History Museum and theScience Museum.
After theGreat Exhibition, held in 1851, had proven to be a huge success, the British Government planned anotherinternational exhibition that would surpass both this one and the1855 Paris Exposition, larger in both size and scale. The intention was to showcase the advances which had since been made in industry, technology, and arts. It was intended to be held in 1861, but was delayed owing to various international events, including theItalian War of Independence andAmerican Civil War (which caused a shortage of cotton, among other things).[1]
The exposition, officially named the London International Exhibition of Industry and Art,[1] was sponsored by theRoyal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Trade, and featured over 28,000 exhibitors from 36 countries, representing a wide range of industry, technology, and the arts.William Sterndale Bennett composed music for the opening ceremony.[2]
The opening took place on 1 May 1862.Queen Victoria, still in mourning for her consortPrince Albert, did not attend; instead her cousin theDuke of Cambridge presided from a throne sited beneath the western dome. An opening address was delivered by theEarl Granville, chairman of Her Majesty's Commissioners, the group responsible for the organisation of the event.[3][4]
There were 39 participating countries, and a total of 6,096,617 visitors attended the exhibition.[1] Receipts (£459,632) were slightly above cost (£458,842), leaving a total profit of £790.[citation needed] An official closing ceremony took place on 1 November 1862, but the exhibition remained open to the public until 15 November 1862.[3]
The exhibition was held inSouth Kensington, London, on a site covering 11 ha (27 acres),[1] and now occupied by the Natural History Museum. The buildings, which occupied 21 acres (8.5 ha), were designed by CaptainFrancis Fowke of theRoyal Engineers, and built byLucas Brothers and Sir John Kelk.[5] They took only 11 months to build.[1] They were intended to be permanent, and were constructed in an un-ornamented style with the intention of adding decoration in later years as funds allowed. Much of the construction was ofcast-iron, 12,000 tons worth,[6] thoughfaçades were brick. Picture galleries occupied three sides of a rectangle on the south side of the site; the largest, with a frontage on theCromwell Road, was 1,150 ft (350 m) long, 50 ft (15 m) high and 50 ft (15 m) wide, with a grand triple-arched entrance.[7]
Fowke paid particular attention to lighting pictures in a way that would eliminate glare. Behind the picture galleries were the "Industrial Buildings" . These were composed of "naves" and "transepts", lit by tallclerestories, with the spaces in the angles between them filled by glass-roofed courts. Above the brick entrances on the east and west fronts were two great glass domes, each 150 feet wide and 260 feet high - at that time the largest domes ever built. The timber-framed "Machinery Galleries", the only parts of the structure intended to be temporary, stretched further north alongPrince Consort Road.[7]
Parliament declined the Government's wish to purchase the building and the materials were sold and used for the construction ofAlexandra Palace.[1]
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The exhibition was a showcase of the advances made in theindustrial revolution, especially in the decade since the Great Exhibition of 1851. Among the items on display were:[3]
There was also a range of smaller goods including fabrics, rugs, sculptures, furniture, plates, porcelain, silver and glass wares, and wallpaper.[citation needed]
The manufacture of ice by an earlyrefrigerator caused a sensation.[3]
The work shown byWilliam Morris's decorative arts firm of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. attracted much notice.[9]
The exposition also introduced the use ofcaoutchouc forrubber production and theBessemer process for steel manufacture.[citation needed]
Benjamin Simpson showed photos from the Indian subcontinent.[citation needed]
William England led a team ofstereoscopic photographers, which includedWilliam Russell Sedgfield andStephen Thompson, to produce a series of 350 stereo views of the exhibition for the London Stereoscopic Company. The images were made using the newcollodion wet plate process which allowed exposure times of only a few seconds. These images provide a vivid three-dimensional record of the exhibition. They were on sale to the public in boxed sets and were delivered to the Queen by messenger so that she could experience the exhibition from her seclusion in mourning.
TheLondon and North Western Railway exhibited one of their express passenger locomotives, No. 531Lady of the Lake. A sister locomotive, No. 229Watt had famously carriedTrent Affair despatches earlier that year,[10] but theLady of the Lake (which won a bronze medal at the exhibition) was so popular that the entire class of locomotive became known asLadies of the Lake.[11] The manufacturingLilleshall Company exhibited a2-2-2 express passenger locomotive.[12]
There was an extensive art gallery designed to allow an even light without reflection on the pictures.[citation needed]
The exhibition also included an international chess tournament, theLondon 1862 chess tournament.[citation needed]
A large tiger skin, from a tiger shot in 1860 by Colonel Charles Reid, was exhibited here.[13] The skin was mounted byEdwin H. Ward and subsequently became "The Leeds Tiger", still on display atLeeds City Museum, UK.[14]
Unlike the Great Exhibition of 1851, theSociety of Arts chose to have a distinctive musical component to the exhibition of 1862. Music criticHenry Chorley was selected as advisor, and recommended commissioning works byWilliam Sterndale Bennett,Giacomo Meyerbeer,Daniel Auber, andGioacchino Rossini. Being in his retirement, Rossini declined, so the Society askedGiuseppe Verdi, who eventually accepted.[15]
William Sterndale Bennett wrote hisOde Written Expressly for the Opening of the International Exhibition (upon a text byAlfred, Lord Tennyson), Meyerbeer wrote hisFest-Ouvertüre im Marschstil, and Auber wrote hisGrand triumphal march. These three works premiered at the opening of the exhibition on 1 May 1862, with the orchestra led by conductorProsper Sainton. Controversies involving Verdi's contribution, the cantataInno delle nazioni, prevented the work from being included in the inaugural concert. It was first performed on 24 May 1862 atHer Majesty's Theatre in a concert organized byJames Henry Mapleson.[15]
At another concert, the French pianist and composerGeorges Pfeiffer created his Second Piano Concerto.[16]
The pianistErnst Pauer performed daily piano recitals on the stage under the western dome.[3]
At the opening of the exhibition on 1 May 1862, one of the attendingMembers of the British Parliament, 70-year-oldRobert Aglionby Slaney, fell onto the ground through a gap between floorboards on a platform. He carried on with his visit despite an injured leg, but died fromgangrene that set in on the 19th.[17]
The exhibition buildings were dismantled and the materials used to construct Alexandra Palace.[1]
The exhibition eclipsed the previous two exhibitions in size and scale, but did not attract as many visitors as aimed for (11 million).[1]
Fowke posited the idea of a new museum ofnatural history to be built on the former site of the Exhibition Palace in 1864. The idea was taken up by the government, and in 1881 the Natural History Museum was inaugurated. TheScience Museum and theVictoria and Albert Museum were also built on the exhibition site.[1]
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