| Set List | Colonial Wine Exhibition (Basement),
Concerts (Auditorium),
Art Exhibition (Gallery),
Hong Kong Bazaar (Gallery) |
| Performance Notes | The Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886 was a very substantial exhibition held in South Kensington in London, and intended (in the words of the then Prince of Wales) "to stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majesty's Empire". The exhibition was opened by Queen Victoria, and when it closed had received 5,559,745 visitors. It was housed in a collection of purpose-built buildings designed in an Indian style buit in the South Kensington Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Gardens, to the south of the Hall, connected to it via a large conservatory. Queen Victoria returned to the Exhibition on at least two further occassions in order visit the displays under more normal conditions.
The Royal Commission provided, free of charge, space in the basement of the Royal Albert Hall for exhibiting colonial wines etc which could be sampled by visitors to the Exhibition from 11am-8pm each day. The basement depth was noted in the exhibition catalogue as four feet deep from the walls.
The Royal Albert Hall's gallery was used display oil painting and watercolours pictures and the auditorium for concerts for the duration of the 164 day-long Exhibition. According to the Exhibition catalogue, pictures could only be shown that had been painted by bona fide British Colonists; represented views in the British Colonies, painted by British subjects; or represented subjects bearing on British Colonial History, painted by British subjects. 'Pictorial contributions' could also be found in the gallery, showing musical instruments owned by Raja Sir Sourindro Mohun Tagore, Kt. Mus. Doc. C.I.E to the Bengal Court. The Exhibition catalogue also stated that, ' In connection with the Hong Kong Court is a shop or bazaar, in the balcony of the Royal Albert Hall, for the sale of Hong Kong articles, presided over by Chinese'.
'India' took up roughly one third of the exhibition space in 1886 amounting to 103,000 square feet. The Indian Government contributed £10,000 to this, with the rest of the money coming from the Royal Commission and various grants. Apart from the financial contributions needed, exhibits had to be procured, and in this the Indian princes and Indian states were intimately involved, donating a range of goods.
The Indian exhibits included art, architecture, economic goods, silks and anthropological studies. Art-wares were organized by Indian provinces - marking a break from previous exhibitions where displays had been ordered by juries on their rankings. The Indian Court was received well by the press and the Royal Family. The Gateways in particular attracted much attention (the Jaipur Gate, paid for by the Maharaja of Jaipur, has stood in the grounds of the Hove Museum and Art Gallery since 1926). The exhibition included a display of 'native artisans' - thirty-four men from Agra demonstrating various crafts and professions, from sweetmeat maker to potter to carpet weaver. These men were in fact inmates from Agra Jail who had arrived in Britain on 20 April 1886 with Dr J W Tyler, superintendent of Agra Jail. They were all invited to a reception at Windsor Castle to meet Queen Victoria in July 1886
Augustus Pitt Rivers, founder of the Pitt Rivers archaeological and anthropological museum at the University of Oxford, visited the Exhibition and purchased 382 items, from at least 16 countries, which would form part of his 'second collection'. In 1884 Pitt Rivers had donated his private 'first collection' to the University of Oxford and two years later in 1886 a museum to house it was opened, and the 'second collection' was added to this.
A catalogue was published by William Clowes and Sons Ltd (London, 1886) - copies of pages relating to Royal Albert Hall wine and painting exhibitions can be referenced. |