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New York Crystal Palace for the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations.
New York Crystal Palace for the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations.

New York Crystal Palace for the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations.

Printer (American, 1811 - 1881)
Publisher (American, 1811 - 1881)
Publisher (American, 1852)
Date1853
MediumLithography; printer's ink and watercolor on wove paper
DimensionsPrimary Dimensions (image height x width): 8 1/4 x 12 3/4in. (21 x 32.4cm) Sheet (height x width): 10 1/8 x 14in. (25.7 x 35.6cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineGift of Samuel St. John Morgan
Object number1950.202.151
DescriptionA crowd of people stand in a grassy lawn in front of the Crystal Palace, a huge iron and glass building with a dome surmounted by an American flag. The flags of other countries fly from the tops of towers at the corners. Decorative motifs include round arches on slender columns. The crowd in the foreground includes a man wearing a fez and other men wearing turbans and robes, as well as men in top hats and frock coats, women in full skirts and bonnets, and small boys and girls. Newsboys, at the left and right, are selling newspapers. A man at the far right, evidently a street performer of some kind, carries a large box on his back. A coach drawn by two horses is at the left, near a man pushing what appears to be a wheelbarrow. The high stone walls of the Croton receiving reservoir at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street are in the right background.
NotesSubject Note: The Crystal Palace, an early example of cast-iron architecture, was erected in 1853 at the corner of 6th Avenue and 42nd Street in New York for the Great Exhibition of Art and Industry. It continued to be used for exhibitions and fairs until it burned in 1857. (Finlay 1/6/2005)
Status
Not on view