Summary

Newspaper extract of The Illustrated London News, Saturday, 7 August 1886, pp.153-160.

Page 153 is the front page of the section on the Victorian Court at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886, and has a highly decorative masthead. At the bottom of page 153 is an illustration titled 'GROUP OF ABORIGINES.' An Aboriginal man, accompanied by a woman carrying a child on her back, are depicted walking through the bush, dressed in animal skins with the woman is carrying a basket and bag. Kangaroos, goannas and birds are also depicted. Pages 156-57 comprise text and illustrations also about the Exhibition and concentrating on Victorian contributions. Illustrations include one of an Aboriginal encampment, showing a mia-mia. Two show the gold trophy, one shows Australian fruit produce and one shows the produce of Chateau Tahbilk winery. The accompanying text describes the Victorian court.

The Colonial and Indian Exhibition opened in South Kensington, London, on 4 May 1886 in the year of Queen Victoria's gold jubilee. It was held in a series of purpose-built buildings constructed in an Indian style. The Jaipur Gate, with its inscriptions in both English and Sanskrit, was donated to the Hove Museum and Art Gallery in south-west England in 1926 and remains in the gardens of the Museum grounds.

In reporting news back to Melbourne, the President and Secretary of the Victorian Commission to the Exhibition wrote a month after it opened: 'We have the honour to report that nearly all the exhibits for the Victorian Court that arrived since the opening day are now in position, and provision has been made for hanging the pictures from the National Gallery immediately upon their arrival. The court is very full, and not a vacant inch of space will be left after these pictures have been hung. The Victorian section is greatly admired, the attendance of visitors daily being enormous. So far the Exhibition has been the most successful on record, the number of visitors being close upon a million ...' (Argus, Friday, 16 July 1886, p.9).

After a very successful period of seven months, the Exhibition closed on 10 November 1886. Some 5,500,000 million had passed through the Exhibition turnstiles by this time (Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, Saturday, 25 December 1886, p. 22).

Physical Description

Newspaper extract of The Illustrated London News, Saturday, 7 August 1886, pp.153-160. Page 153 is the front page of the section on the Victorian Court at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, 1886, and has a highly decorative masthead, the exhibition title of 'COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION' is framed in an unfurling banner with oak leave and foliate ornamentation, while the court title, 'VICTORIA' is decorated with wheat sheaves, bunches of grapes and cornucopia. An imperial crown sits above the exhibition title, with the initials 'V' and 'R' (Victoria Regina) below. At the bottom of page 153 is an illustration titled 'GROUP OF ABORIGINES.' An Aboriginal man, accompanied by a woman carrying a child on her back, are depicted walking through the bush, dressed in animal skins with the woman is carrying a basket and bag. Kangaroos, goannas and birds are also depicted. Pages 156-57 comprise text and illustrations also about the Exhibition and concentrating on Victorian contributions. Illustrations include one of an Aboriginal encampment, showing a mia-mia. Two show the gold trophy, one shows Australian fruit produce and one shows the produce of Chateau Tahbilk winery. The accompanying text describes the Victorian court.

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