Illustration: A Handbook for the Medieval Court by Matthew Digby Wyatt and John Burley Waring, 1854.
After the Great Exhibition of 1851, it was felt that the popularity of the event, including the exhibition building itself, should be continued in some form. It was eventually decided to re-erect the building in a different format at Sydenham. The building itself, popularly known as the Crystal Palace, was officially named as such and became a strange combination of leisure and educational venue. A number of 'courts' were set up within the building. These courts were to largely take on an educational format, whereby decorative historic styles would be represented. Therefore courts were designated as Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Alhambra, Assyrian, Byzantine, Medieval, Renaissance, Italian and Pompeian. There were also courts for a range of diverse near contemporary and contemporary subjects such as fine art, sculpture and music. However, it was the historically themed courts that particularly caught the imagination.
When the newly refurbished Crystal Palace reopened in 1854, it was still a period in British history whereby few of the population had ever been outside of the confines of the nation. Therefore, exotic appearing courts, although mostly constructed from plaster, giving an appearance of historical or geographical locations, must have appeared to many, to be bringing far flung locations of the world to their own near doorstep.
Illustration: Medieval Court at the Crystal Palace, 1854.
Guidebooks were produced for each court written by a range of experts including Samuel Phillips, Philip Henry Delamotte, John Burley Waring, George Scharf Jnr, Austin Henry Layard, J Gardner Wilkinson, Owen Jones and Matthew Digby Wyatt. Wyatt was involved with four of the guides, two of which are illustrated in this article. The Byzantine and Romanesque Court and The Medieval Court, both co-written with John Burley Waring were perhaps not the weighty tomes that some might have preferred, but as they were aimed at a very broad cross-section of the general public, they were very popular.
The guides gave a good general introduction of the period and style of each court, concentrating on the architectural, fine and decorative art of the era. They also paid heed to what was actually included within each court, all of which were plaster copies of originals. In the case of the Medieval Court for example, it might well have caused a certain amount of confusion as decorative styles from both England and various parts of Europe were all placed within the confines of the court. However, most visitors seemed to find it both entertaining and educational, which no doubt was the purpose of the organisers.
Illustration: A Handbook to the Byzantine Court by Matthew Digby Wyatt and John Burley Waring, 1854.
Praise should go to Owen Jones himself who was intimately involved in the construction of many of the courts. Jones tried to achieve as close a resemblance to the originals as was possible. However, obviously some courts were going to be more exact than others. The Alhambra Court for example, was particularly praised for its superb decorative details. This would no doubt have something to do with the fact that Jones knew the Alhambra from personal experience and it was always considered to be an integral part of his belief in design and decoration reform. Other courts were perhaps less convincing, particularly those with few eyewitnesses to the real pieces. Suppositions concerning colour combinations had to be made with little archaeological evidence, but as few members of the public knew anything about the originals, it perhaps seemed more important to give an indication, rather than a strict detailed view of some aspects of world decorative and cultural history.
The two little guidebooks featured here are in themselves interesting snapshots of public entertainment and education in the mid-nineteenth century. Although there was a whole range of entertainment from music hall to opera, public entertainment in the mid-nineteenth century did seem very much to be concerned with enlightenment of the masses through art education. In some respects, it seems very little different from today in that institutions find themselves with the same difficult task of educating through entertainment. It would be hard to judge how successful the Crystal Palace was as an educational resource, compared to its entertainment value. This always seems to be the problem when turning a museum into an entertainment complex. Does everyone enjoy the interactivity but still go away with more information, or have they just had fun pressing buttons? A number of critics of the Crystal Palace made note that many of the crowds who descended at the weekend were outside, rather than inside the Palace, the outside areas being full of non-educational entertainment.
Illustration: Entrance to the Byzantine Court at the Crystal Palace, 1854.
However, the courts themselves, as can be seen from the two illustrations of sections of the Medieval and Byzantine Courts, were impressive, considering they were mere plaster copies of original stone features. They must have made a particularly grand gesture towards ideas concerning the history of the architectural and decorative arts, and given an indication of what was available in the world outside of the island of Britain, as well as an inkling of the cultural history that we all have an equal share in.
Interestingly, there were no courts dedicated to Indian, Chinese or Japanese cultures, nothing concerning Africa, Native America or the Pacific. In some respects, lack of detailed information could be seen as an excuse for at least some of the omissions. However, this does not explain why for example a Nineveh Court was included and an Indian Court was not. With many of these nineteenth century well-meaning public educational formats, there were just as many underlying factors that had to do with issues largely concerned with the twin aspects of empire, colonialism and racism. The popular and standard Euro-centric world view, also gave a staggering lack of perspective of the world as a whole.
However, despite its obvious faults, the Crystal Palace did try to open new vistas on the world for a British audience that was largely ignorant of any details, other than its own. For those with no knowledge of the historical placing of the decorative arts of Europe at least, the different courts would have proved a useful resource, particularly if there was little hope of being able to visit the medieval churches of France and Germany, the ruins of Pompeii, or the Alhambra of Granada.
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