Architectural models: Souvenirs and study

Models were also commissioned by educational institutions, such as the South Kensington Museum. These enabled students who could not afford to travel to study a wide range of artistic examples. Models were first displayed alongside casts of architecture and sculpture in the Architectural Courts at the Museum, which opened in 1873.

  • Model of a South Indian Hindu Temple



    Model of a South Indian Hindu Temple
    Probably Thanjavur or Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, South India
    Mid-late 19th century
    Sola pith
    Height 34 cm x width 43 cm x depth 28 cm
    Museum no. IS 12-1980
    Given by St Helens Arts and Libraries

    Carved in the soft pith of the sola plant's stem. Pith models of temples were made in South India, and examples were exhibited at international exhibitions in 1873 and 1886. This example was owned by a Mrs Willink, who lived in Madras, and given to St Helens Museum in 1897.

  • Models of a mosque, palace and rice barn



    Models of a mosque, palace and rice barn
    Sumatra
    19th century
    Brass
    Height 42 cm x width 14 cm x depth 14 cm (mosque, left), height 38 cm x width 39 cm x depth 21 cm (palace, centre), and height 27 cm x width 12 cm x depth 9 cm (rice barn, right)
    Museum no. IS 451-1950
    Bequeathed by Mrs E.S. Wilkinson

    This set was part of a pioneering collection of South-East Asian metalwork that was acquired by R. J. Wilkinson, a former Deputy-Governor of the Straits Settlement.

  • Model of a shrine



    Model of a shrine
    China
    19th century
    Carved and incised soapstone
    Height 14 cm x width 15 cm x depth 8 cm
    Museum no. 160-1886
    Gift of the Chinese Commissioners of the International Inventions Exhibition

    Small-scale models of tombs, pagodas and memorial arches as well were typical of part of the range of soapstone items produced in late 19th century China for the domestic market and export to the West. This particular piece arrived in South Kensington as an exhibit in a series of international exhibitions held between 1883-6. Others were often bought as souvenirs.

  • Model of a pavilion in the Court of Lions, Alhambra, Granada, Spain



    Model of a pavilion in the Court of Lions, Alhambra
    Granada, Spain
    1850-1900
    Plaster and alabaster
    Height 86 cm x width 48 cm x depth 42 cm
    Museum no. 927-1900

    The Alhambra Palace complex was erected between 1325-1333. Various models of the palace were made in the second half of the nineteenth century, many by Don Rafael Contreras, the official Palace restorer. Interest in Moorish architecture and decorative style was stimulated by publications such as Owen Jones' Grammar of Ornament. Here a pavilion has been isolated from the palace courtyard and given a fictitious decorative back wall.

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