The greatest show on earth
Hermione Hobhouse
PALACE OF THE PEOPLE by J. R. Piggott C. Hurst & Co., £2250, pp. 121, ISBN 1850657270 This generously illustrated book serves two purposes. First of all, it celebrates the centenary of the reopening of the Crystal Palace which housed the 1851 Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in Hyde Park, at Sydenham in June 1854. In this role it traces the history of the building reopened as a venue for Londoners. Secondly, it focuses attention on a very comprehensive and magnificent exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery, which covers both its brief period of glory in Hyde Park, and its longer, more problematic, existence in South London.
The exhibition contains some well-known images, including the famous 'blotting-paper' drawing in which Paxton sketched out his preliminary ideas for a light-weight structure, achievable within the tight schedule facing the Commissioners of the 1851 Exhibition. The building is shown in its two decorative modes: the well-known view of the Inauguration of the Great Exhibition on 1 May 1851, from the Royal Collection, together with a similar view of the Sydenham opening by Queen Victoria in June 1854. The colouring and decoration of the two buildings were very different, though both are by Owen Jones. who was very important as decorator and archaeologist in the collection of the contents and their display in the Sydenham building.
The Palace was moved to Sydenham despite a spirited rearguard action by Paxton and his supporters to keep it in Hyde Park, in defiance of the undertaking that it would be removed after the Exhibition. A combine of railway interests and local landowners found a magnificent site at Penge which provided both a suitable position for a slightly enlarged and heated building, and a magnificent park. The intention was to couple education and entertainment in a commercial manner which would both finance the enterprise and reward the entrepreneurs, many of whom had been involved with the promotion of the Great Exhibition. Jones was sent abroad to obtain casts of great foreign monuments fom the Medici tombs and arabesques after Raphael to the temples of Abu Simbel on the Nile. The Fine Arts Courts included Greek, Roman and mediaeval courts, and the Alhambra Court was much admired by the Spanish-born Empress Eugenie of France on a royal visit in 1855. Many of the exhibits came from Hyde Park, including the 'Greek Slave' by Hiram Powers, and the 'Amazon', repelling a lioness, by Kiss from the Berlin Museum. Their fame did not avert a plea by highly placed ecclesiastics, led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, for the provision of fig leaves to preserve public decency.
The grounds, dominated by Paxton's ambitious fountains, for which special water towers were required, also provided a park, rather similar to the earlier Cremorne Gardens. However, even here enlightenment was provided, with the installation of life-size 'Extinct Animals' like iguanodons, based on the researches of Professor Richard Owen. These are one of the few original features to survive, as under commercial pressure much of the rest of the layout was converted to other uses. An Opera Theatre was installed, and under Sir George Grove and Augustus Mann concerts and the Handel Festivals came into being, balloon ascents and aeronautical displays followed. Within 40 years features like cycle tracks and football pitches made their appearance.
In 1911, the Palace and park were put up for sale, but were saved for the public by Lord Plymouth, who bought them, preserving the Palace from demolition and the park from development. It spent the 1914-18 war as the home of the Royal Naval Division, enjoying freedom from enemy attack apparently because of the value of the towers in guiding Zeppelins to central London. After the war, the Palace became the first home of the Imperial War Museum, and the building and grounds were restored. This impressive programme came to a disastrous end on 30 November 1936 when the building was destroyed by a fire which could be seen in Brighton. Even Brunel's towers were later blown up as a dangerous landmark. After the second world war, the park was given to the LCC to manage.
These tributes make it clear that this great Victorian enterprise remains an asset to London, and its future, now again under discussion, could still be glorious.
Crystal Palace at Sydenham, an exhibition at the Dulwich Picture Gallery; runs until 18 April
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