[Two Gentlemen Seated on the Grounds of the Palace; The Palace from the Rosary; Cascades and North End of Palace; General View of Gardens and Fountains]

The Exposition des produits de l'industrie française (Exhibition of Products of French Industry) organized in Paris, France, from 1798 to 1849 impressed the British public so much so that under increasing public pressure the British government reluctantly set up a Royal Commission to investigate the idea of London Exhibition. National pride dictated that the exhibition must bigger and better than anything French could organize. A competition to design an exhibition building was won by the firm of Fox and Henderson, with plans based upon a design by Joseph Paxton and adapted from a glass and iron conservatory produced for the Duke of Devonshire’s Chatsworth House. The design of the impressive glass and iron conservatory or Crystal Palace was amended to accommodate the Hyde Park's large elm trees. The building was 1,850 feet (564 m) long, and 108 feet (33 m) high. Shortly after the exhibition, the whole structure was removed from Hyde Park site and re-erected at Sydenham, then a sleepy hamlet in the Kent countryside, now a multi-ethnic part of South East London. The building was destroyed by fire on the 30th November 1936. The Great Exhibition was opened by Queen Victoria on 1st May 1851. The opening of the Great Expedition happened to coincide with the great innovation of the Industrial Revolution. The Exhibition of 1851 ran from May to October and was visited by six million people. The event became one of the defining points of the nineteenth century. The exhibits included every marvel of the Victorian age, including pottery, porcelain, ironwork, furniture, perfumes, pianos, firearms, fabrics, steam hammers, hydraulic presses and even the odd house or two. Although the original aim of the world fair had been as a celebration of art in industry for the benefit of All Nations, it turned into a showcase of British manufacturing: more than half the 100,000 objects on display were from Britain and the British Empire.

Delamotte was born in 1821 in Birmingham, England. He began his career as an illustrator, working for publishers such as Charles Knight and the Illustrated London News. In the 1850s he turned to photography, becoming one of the earliest practitioners of the medium. Delamotte's photographic work focused on architecture and landscapes, and he was particularly interested in capturing the Gothic Revival style that was popular in Victorian England. He also documented the construction of the Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition of 1851. In addition to his photographic work, Delamotte continued to work as an illustrator, producing drawings and engravings for books and magazines. He also taught drawing and watercolour painting at the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum). Delamotte died in 1889, leaving a legacy as a photographer and illustrator of Victorian England. His photographs are now in collections around the world, including the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.