View in the East Nave; The Amazon, by Kiss, from "Recollections of the Great Exhibition, 1851"
John Absolon British
Lithographer Day & Son, Ltd., London British
Publisher Lloyd Brothers & Co. British
Not on view
At the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, held in London in 1851, displays of art and manufacture were shown at the Crystal Palace, a specially-built glass and iron building in Hyde park designed by Joseph Paxton. Between May and October more than six million visitors flocked to view thousands of objects organized by theme and place of origin at the first world’s fair. This lithograph shows works in the East Nave sent by German states belonging to the Zollverein, or Customs Union. August Karl Eduard Kiss's zinc sculpture of The Amazon at center reproduces a bronze installed outside the Neues Museum in Berlin in 1841. In the foreground, a gentleman examines Albert Wagner's tiered basin topped by an angel. Publishers Lloyd Brothers teamed with lithographers Day & Son to create the hand-colored set to which the print belongs, the whole offering well-to-do visitors a detailed and beautifully produced souvenir.
