>WikiCleanerBot at 14:41, 3 June 2021

2021-06-03T14:41:54Z

New page

{{Infobox World's Fair
| box_width =
| class =
| category = 10
| image = File:The Queen Opening the Colonial and Indian Exhibition Procession passing the principal entrance to the Indian Palace.jpg
| image_width =
| caption = The Queen Opening the Colonial and Indian Exhibition: Procession passing the principal entrance to the Indian Palace", ''[[The Illustrated London News]]'', May 1886.<ref>''The Illustrated London News'', 8 May 1886, p. 478.</ref>
| year = 1886
| name = Colonial and Indian Exhibition
| motto =
| building =
| area = [[South Kensington]]
| invent =
| visitors = 5.5 million
| organized =
| mascot =
| cnt =
| org =
| biz =
| country = [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland]]
| city = Londo
| venue =
| coord =
| cand =
| award =
| open =
| close =
| prevexpo =
| prevcity =
| nextexpo =
| nextcity =
| suppl =
| prevsuppl =
| prevsupcity =
| nextsuppl =
| nextsupcity =
| prevunho =
| prevunhocity =
| nextunho =
| nextunhocity =
| simuni =
| simspe =
| simhor =
| simoth =
| website =
}}
{{For|colonial exhibitions in general|Colonial exhibition}}
[[File:Jamaica at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, London 1886.jpg|thumb|Jamaica's display at the exhibition.]]
[[File:British Empire map - The India and Colonial Exhibition, London (1886) - BL.jpg|thumb|right|Linen map of the British Empire that was sold at the exhibition.]]
The '''Colonial and Indian Exhibition''' of 1886 was held in [[South Kensington]] in London with the objective to (in the words of [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|the then Prince of Wales]]) "stimulate commerce and strengthen the bonds of union now existing in every portion of her Majesty's Empire".<ref>[[Saloni Mathur]], India by Design: Colonial History and Cultural Display (Berkeley: U of California P, 2007), p.57.</ref> The exhibition was opened by [[Queen Victoria]], and when it closed had received 5.5 million visitors.<ref name="hove">{{cite web|url=http://www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk/Museums/hovemuseum/History/Pages/TheJaipurGate.aspx|title=The Jaipur Gate|access-date=12 March 2012}}</ref>

It was housed in a collection of purpose-built buildings designed in an Indian style.{{Citation needed|date=March 2012}}

==Display==
In 1886, the bonds of the Empire were intended to be strengthened by the Colonial and Indian Exhibition. In New Zealand, there was a suggestion that the showcases should be made of native woods. A fernery was included in the New Zealand Court and a display of frozen mutton represented the burgeoning agricultural industries. A pātaka (storehouse), originally carved in the 1850s dominated the large Maori collection assembled by naturalist [[Walter Buller]] along with the tomb of a [[Ngāti Pikiao|Ngati Pikiao]] chief.<ref name="bmphototomb">{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_image.aspx?objectId=3066006&partId=1&searchText=colonial&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&titleSubject=on&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx&images=on&numPages=10&currentPage=4&asset_id=341474|title=British Museum - Search object image|access-date=12 March 2012}}</ref><ref name="AucklandMuseum"/> A series of Māori portraits by [[Gottfried Lindauer]], within an ethnological context, was also shown. In another building, the fine art section, consisted of over one hundred paintings, mostly New Zealand landscapes. Among them was ''The Haunt of the Moa, a Scene in a Puriri Forest'' (1885) by the artist Kennett Watkins.<ref name="AucklandMuseum">{{Cite web|last=Wolfe|first=Richard|date=11 Nov 2019|title=International Exhibitions|url=https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/discover/research/crafting-aotearoa/international-exhibitions|url-status=live|access-date=30 April 2021|website=[[Auckland Museum]]}}</ref>

Exhibits shown included a ceremonial sword from the [[Lagos Colony|colony of Lagos]],<ref name="bmlagosswordinfo">{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=615268&partid=1&searchText=The+Colonial+and+Indian+Exhibition&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx&currentPage=1|title=British Museum - Search object details|access-date=12 March 2012}}</ref> a grasshopper swatter from the [[Straits Settlements]],<ref name="bmgrasshopperswatter">{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_details.aspx?objectid=571002&partid=1&searchText=The+Colonial+and+Indian+Exhibition&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&numpages=10&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx&currentPage=7|title=British Museum - Search object details|access-date=12 March 2012}}</ref> and [[Albert Bierstadt]]'s painting of the [[Bahama Islands]] ''After A Norther'' was displayed in the West Indian gallery, and admired by the Prince of Wales<ref name="Bierstadt">{{cite web|url=http://www.hagginmuseum.org/collections/bierstadt_after_norther.shtml|title=The Haggin Museum - Collections: Art: Albert Bierstadt: After Norther, Bahamas|access-date=4 April 2012}}</ref>

The India artware section was split into different areas representing the different [[princely states]]. The Rajputana entrance was a large Jaipur gate constructed of and provided by the then [[Maharaja of Jaipur]].<ref name="hove" /> The Gwalior gateway which had been displayed at the [[Calcutta International Exhibition]] (1883) was loaned by the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]].<ref name="Gwalior">{{cite web|url=http://www.vam.ac.uk/blog/tales-archives/photographic-guardbooks-images-india|access-date = 4 January 2017|title=Photographic guardbooks: Images of India | Victoria and Albert Museum|date = 24 September 2013}}</ref>

Several dozen Indians were imported, reputedly from [[Agra]] jail,<ref>{{cite book
|last1=Mathur|first1=Saloni
|title=India by Design: Colonial History and Cultural Display
|date=2007
|publisher=University of California Press
|isbn=9780520234178
|page=60
|oclc=76481430
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ndh3NvwqzRkC&pg=PA52 |access-date=13 January 2015}}</ref>
to serve as living exhibits; they were described as artisans, it appears that they were trained in their crafts as part of the British Empire's long-term project to 'reform the [[Denotified Tribes|criminal castes]]'.

==Legacy==
The Jaipur Gate built for the exhibition was renovated in 2004, and is on display at the [[Hove Museum and Art Gallery]]<ref name="hove" />

The Durbar Hall exhibited at the exhibition is on display at the [[Hastings Museum and Art Gallery]].

== References ==
{{Reflist}}


==External links==
*[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/search_object_image.aspx?objectId=3066006&partId=1&searchText=colonial&fromADBC=ad&toADBC=ad&titleSubject=on&orig=%2fresearch%2fsearch_the_collection_database.aspx&images=on&numPages=10&currentPage=4&asset_id=341474 Photograph of a Maori tomb on display at the exhibition]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120422053232/http://www.brighton-hove-rpml.org.uk/Museums/hovemuseum/PublishingImages/rpmHMjaipurgate_d002-300w250h.jpg Illustration of the Jaipur Gate at the time of the exhibition]
*[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database.aspx The British Museum collection database] - enter "The Colonial and Indian Exhibition" for a list of objects from the exhibition in the British Museum collection
*{{cite book|title=Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886 Official Catalogue|date=1886|publisher=William Clowes and Sons|location=London|isbn=0665052553|url=https://archive.org/stream/cihm_05255#page/n5/mode/2up|access-date=13 January 2015}}

{{List of world's fairs in Ireland and Great Britain}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:British Empire]]
[[Category:Colonial exhibitions]]
[[Category:1886 in London]]
[[Category:South Kensington]]
[[Category:Festivals established in 1886]]

Colonial and Indian Exhibition - Revision history

>WikiCleanerBot at 14:41, 3 June 2021