Trevithick's Locomotive

Painting, oil or acrylic on compressed board, Trevithick's Locomotive, by Lucjan Pietka, about 1951. Depicts Trevithick's 1804 locomotive, with chaldron coal wagons above. Above these is a line of soldiers in a street, led by an officer on horseback with the caption "1815 Victory at Waterloo". The legend at the top of the panel reads "1804, Trevithick's Locomotive, The first practical railway engine in the world." On the reverse is written "MX1/H1C" and "1" and there is a gummed British Transport Commission label with the number 1399/1/52 and letters "L.T.E." Another remnant of a gummed label reads "Hove Museum, Loan Exhibition 1952, murals of engines, ...4, 1829, 1848, 1870, by British Transport Commission". There is a circular hole, approximately 5cm in diameter, cut in the panel at top left. One of four exhibition panels produced for the Festival of Britain of 1951 depicting the development of the locomotive and contemporary historical events. These were displayed on the festival ship HMS Campania, which toured British ports with a travelling exhibition.