This scene shows the enormous scale of the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park which housed the Great Exhibition of 1851. The stalls in the ground floor section are labelled 'India' and display ships, weapons, armour, parasols and canopies. Carpets are hung on the balcony above. The most famous of the Indian exhibits was the Koh-i-noor diamond, one of the largest in the world. Queen Victoria became its owner when British forces annexed the Punjab in northern India.
