The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations was held in Hyde Park, London, in 1851. Championed by Prince Albert and organised by Henry Cole and the Royal Society of Arts, it was the first international exhibition of manufactured goods and is regarded as a defining moment of the Victorian age.
The exhibition was housed in the Crystal Palace, a vast iron and glass building designed by Joseph Paxton, and displayed over one hundred thousand objects from Britain, its empire and many other countries, from machinery and raw materials to furniture, ceramics, silver, glass, textiles and sculpture. Millions of visitors attended, and the profits helped to found the museums of South Kensington, including what became the Victoria and Albert Museum. For the decorative arts, the exhibition showcased elaborate revival styles and new industrial techniques, though critics found much of the design over-ornamented, which stimulated the reform movements of the following decades. Objects exhibited in 1851, and commemorative wares made for the occasion, are keenly collected, particularly when they can be linked to the official catalogue or prize medals.
