Crystal Palace during The Great Exhibition, 1851: Vegetable Products of Scotland (Lawson and Sons)

Photograph of a view of the upper floor galleries in the Crystal Palace, during the 1851 Great Exhibition. The glass cases are labelled, indicating the display is of vegetable products from Scotland. The ground floor gallery is visible in the lower half of the photograph.

The display was by Lawson and Sons. According to the catalogue for the 1851 Great Exhibition, Lawson P. & Son from Edinburgh displayed 'Vegetable products of Scotland; substances used for food for man and domestic animals, in the chemical arts, in medicine, in manufactures, and in house and ship building'.

This photograph is from Volume I (RCIN 2800000) of ' Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, 1851: Reports by the Juries on the Subjects in the Thirty Classes into which the Exhibition was Divided'. The incredibly successful Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, commonly known as the Great Exhibition, ran from May to October 1851. At the exhibition's conclusion, over 100 copies of the four volume 'Reports by the Juries' were distributed to foreign governments and notable participants. The reports consist of the juries' comments and assessments of the works displayed in the exhibition. The idea and decision to illustrate the reports with photographs is attributed to Prince Albert (1819-61).