Explore the many ways in which science is visual, and visual culture shapes how we think about science. Our collections range across painting, drawing, print, sculpture and digital from the 1500s to today.
.Unattributed
circa 1854
Print. lithograph, some col, caricaturing precautions in a cholera epidemic [c1840-1865]. 2. 'The State Doctor' (wearing expensive frock coat amid drugs and large pestles), image 9.5x6cm edged to 11.5x8cm. Framed together with /1, /3, 52x21x2cm
Langlumé
1822-1840
Print. Lithograph, 'Vaporisateur du Docteur Montazeau', by Langlumé (fl.1810-1824). issued [Paris? c1810-24?]. Image 15.1x19.6cm on sheet 22x27cm. Interior scene with young woman seated beside table using a machine powered by foot treadle to bellows and cylinder with its long spout attached to a nose mask to assist her breathing. Inscription below image reads 'Demoiselle agee de 16 ans, atteinte de phthisie pulmonaise, soumise au nouveau traitement du Vaporisateur du Docteur Montazeau'. In frame 29x31x1.5cm
Stanhope Alexander Forbes
1918
Painting, [The Munition Girls] / by Stanhope Alexander Forbes, 1918. Oil on canvas; 40x 50" or 103x127cm, in decorative gilt frame 132x152x8.5cm. Signed and dated bottom left. Female operatives making 4.5-inch shells at the Kilnhurst Steel Works of John Baker and Co. Ltd., Rotherham; steel billets are re-heated in a separate furnace and, still glowing, moved by hand to a steam hydraulic press for forging. Mr. George Baker commissioned this scene "to produce a memento for our women workers", and each of them received a framed copy of it.
Bourne, John Cooke
1839
print. Lithograph (buff and black) 'Tring Cutting. June 17th 1837' / by John Cooke Bourne del et lithog, 1839, Plate XIX [of Bourne's London and Birmingham Railway, 1839]. London: Published 1839, by the proprietor JC Bourne, 19, Lamb's Conduit Street and Ackermann & Co, Strand. Printed by C. Hullmandel. Image 23.5x35.2cm on sheet 38x55cm. Shows scale of industry using animal and human power. Many 'horse runs' used for drawing up wheelbarrows containing spoil from excavation
George Cruikshank
1832
Coloured etching by G[eorge] Cruikshank: Source of the Southwark Water Works, or [headed] Salus Populi Suprema Lex. Published by S. Knight, [1832]. 51x32.5cm. Printed on broadsheet with text poem beneath: Royal Address of Cadwallader... water-king of Southwark [John Edwards]. Concern at pollution and threat to public health. In frame 69x44x2cm
Jenny Holzer
2020
Half of 'For Science' sculpture by Jenny Holzer, 2020. A silver cloud granite bench with the text 'What kind of life exists without language?' in capital letters sand-blasted down the centre of the bench seat. This is a conceptual artwork by Holzer, working in New York, fabricated by Carnevale and Lohr in Bell Gardens, California.
Print. lithograph, some col, caricaturing precautions in a cholera epidemic [c1840-1865]. 3. 'Hoping for the spread of the cholera' (a gleeful undertaker, in hat, news reports of deaths), image 10x7cm edged to 12x9cm. Framed together with /1, /2, 52x21x2cm
Luke Howard
1849
[Cloud modifications] / E Kenyon [Kennion] with Luke Howard. - n.d. [March 1849]. - one of 4 drawings: pen, watercolour, with white; 28x19cm or smaller; [Plate 5] Nimbus, or rain cloud. - Original studies of clouds "from nature" by Luke Howard, with landscapes by "Mr Kenyon". These were lithographed by EM Williams and printed by M&N Hanhart as illustrations for the 3rd edition of Howard's Essay on the Modifications of Clouds, 1865. The explanations of plates prefacing this edition are by "LH, March 1849" who gave "a number of sketches" to Kenyon. Clouds and landscapes of drawings 1 and 3 are closely related to engravings in Rees' Cyclopedia, dated (Science Museum copy) 1810 and 1820, after work by "E. Kennion" or E. Kennyon" ie, Edward Kennion (1744-1809). It is not known whether these watercolours were executed by 1809, by Edward Kennion using cloud sketches made by Luke Howard (1772-1864) during his most active time of cloud sketching and observation; or, whether Howard refers to Kennion's son Charles John (1789-1853), also an accomplished landscape artist, who may have worked with these sketches in 1849 or 180-. The watercolours are not dated, and more than one finished study may have been made by Howard from his sketchbooks, at any time 180- to 1849. nos. 1 and 4 together in frame 51x37.5x2.5cm.
Art
1859
"Parian Ware" bust, 15" high, of Robert Stephenson
1695-1702
Trade card: Tho. Tutell, Charring Cross, London. Print of early Scientific Instruments (Engraved by Tuttell). 'Mathematical Instrumt. maker to ye Kings most excellt. Majesty'. more than 60 instruments depicted. Each illustration is numbered as if the picture was a catalogue. Vignette shows surveying instruments in use. (Calv. 408)
William Combe
1820
Aquatint, col. 'Dr Syntax and his Wife Making an experiment in Pneumatics'. Plate [15] from 'Dr. Syntax in Paris' [W Combe, 1820]. platemark 15x23cm, image 11x19cm. Caricature, scene dancing in drawing room, Nooth? chemical apparatus on lower left. In frame 29.5x35.5x1.5cm
Hannah Humphrey
1802
"Scientific Researches! - New Discoveries in Pneumaticks! - or, an Experimental Lecture on the Powers of Air". Coloured etching by James Gillray, published 23 May 1802 by Hannah Humphrey St James's Street, London.
Claude Allin Shepperson
1914-1918
Detraining in England, by Claude Shepperson, 1914-1918, from series 'Tending the wounded'. Crayon lithograph, 38.5x51cm, in gilt and black frame 58x68x3cm. Stretcher bearers beside the train loading the wounded into a four-berth ambulance. No.[4] of set subtitled 'Detraining in England', numbered '19' blc, depicting stretcher bearers beside the train loading the wounded into a four-berth ambulance; image 35x46cm, sheet 38.5x51cm
Print. lithograph, some col, caricaturing precautions in a cholera epidemic [c1840-1865]. 1. 'Fearing the spread of the cholera' (gin drinkers beware, publican's dilemma), image 10x7cm edged to 12x9cm. Framed with /2 and /3, 52x21x2cm
Half of 'For Science' sculpture by Jenny Holzer, 2020. A silver cloud granite bench with the text 'Illness is the night-side of life' in capital letters sand-blasted down the centre of the bench seat. This is a conceptual artwork by Holzer, working in New York, fabricated by Carnevale and Lohr in Bell Gardens, California.
J Diplock
1851
Lectures on phrenology, physiology, etc. April 3-10 1851. On yellow paper, 58x23cm. In frame, 64x28.5x2cm.
Thomas Talbot Bury
1831
Print. Aquatint, coloured. 'Entrance into Manchester across Water Street'. T T Bury. delt; H. Pyall. sculpt. - 'Plate 6' of Views on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. - London, Published Feby 1831 by R Ackermann, 96 Strand. image 19.8x25cm on sheet 23.5x27.5cm. In frame 41x44x2cm
Hans Hysing
1725
Print (mezzotint). Engraved by Peter Pelham after Hans Hysing, 1725; published by John Bowles, London. Titled ‘J. T. Desaguliers Legum Doctor, Regiae Societatis Londinensis | Socius, Honoratissimo Duci de Chandos à Sacris. Philosophiae Naturalis | Experimentorum ope Illustrator.’ The print is a half-length portrait of John Theophilus Desaguliers, shown seated at a table against a plain background. Facing to the left, he wears a wig and clerical dress. He holds a magnifying glass in one hand, and a prism rests on the table. Lettered underneath the image with title, and maker and publication details as follows: ‘H. Hysing pinx’; ‘P Pelham fec: 1725’; ‘Sold by John Bowles at the Black Horse in Cornhill’.
John Lewis
1776
Print (mezzotint). Engraved by Valentine Green after John Lewis; published by Valentine Green, London, 1776. Titled 'JOHN BIRD of LONDON, | Who furnished the Chief Observatories of the World, with the most Capital Astronomical Instruments divided by him after an improved | method of his own, in a manner superior to any executed before, for which, and many other Improvements in the Construction of | Astronomical Instruments, he was honoured with a considerable Recompence from the Commissioners of Longitude. | Died the 31st. March 1776, in the 67th. year of his age.' The print is a half-length portrait of John Bird, shown seated at a table in front of a curtain backdrop. Lying on the table are a beam compass, Bird's publication 'The Method of Constructing Mural Quadrants', and a diagram of a mural quadrant lettered 'J. Bird Sculp'. The composition is enclosed by a simple, rectangular trompe-l’oeil frame. Lettered underneath the image with title, and maker and publication details as follows: 'Lewis Pinxit.'; 'Engraved by V. Green, Engraver to his Majesty, & to the Elector Palatine.'; 'Published Decr. 2, 1776, by V. Green, Engraver to his Majesty &c. Salisbury Street, Strand.'
Grayson Perry
Ceramic jar 'Alan Measles - God in the time of Covid-19' by Grayson Perry, 2020. In the style of a medicine 'albarello' jar featuring a narrative of fantasy lockdown experiences in black outline with polychrome glaze. Imagery includes Alan Measles (Perry’s famous teddy bear), Perry’s alter ego Claire and Professor Chris Whitty, the UK’s then Chief Medical Officer. Perry's potter's mark in black at the base.
Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg
1801
Coalbrookdale by Night by Philippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, 1801. Oil on canvas in gilt frame. Signed and dated bottom right. Exhibited as 'A View of Colebrook Dale by night' at the Royal Academy London in 1801. It shows the Bedlam furnaces at Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, with flames and smoke billowing from the centre of the picture. The picturesque gorge landscape to either side is lit by moonlight, and figures hurry in the foreground to transport raw materials and iron pigs.
R Page
1815
Print (stipple engraving). Engraved by R. Page, London, 1815. Titled ‘BENJ. MARTIN.’. The print is a bust-length portrait of Benjamin Martin, shown against a plain background in a simple oval frame. Facing to the right, he wears a wig, coat, waistcoat and cravat. A small, framed, rectangular vignette below the portrait shows a globe and a telescope, both mounted on tripods. Lettered underneath the composition with title.
Paul Sandby
1784
Print (etching with aquatint). Satirical depiction of John Sheldon and Allen Keegan’s failed balloon launch from the gardens of Lord Foley’s house in Portland Place, London, in September 1784. The balloon’s enormous shape is exaggerated to resemble a human bottom from which flames erupt and smoke billows. A much smaller balloon appears to shoot out of the fire, in the form of a grinning head with ass's ears wearing a jester’s cap lettered ‘THE ENGLISH BALLOON 1784’. Spectators watch from the ground and the garden wall as people attempt to bring the situation under control. Lettered underneath the image ‘Caelum ipsum petimus Stultitia’ ['In our foolishness, we reach for the sky itself'], from Horace, Odes 1.3. Designed and etched by Paul Sandby, probably London, 1784.
James Bretherton
1778
Portrait mezzotint print of Phelps Thomas, made by Watson James, Printed & Published March 14th 1778 by Bretherton James No.134 New Bond Street, London, ; 45x31cm., image platemark 35.3x27.8cm., text platemark 7x27.7cm, frame 57.5x42.5x2cm. Image plate cut at bottom, figures placed on globe and regulator, inscription added beneath on separate plate. Pull trimmed to platemarks. Watermark: IHS (similar to Heawood 2997). Phelps stands in observatory at Shirburn Castle, seat of Parker George 2nd Earl Macclesfield, looking through transit telescope. Bartlett, his assistant, perched on observer's chair frame, prepares to record. Foreground, celestial globe; background L, telescope with altazimuth mounting on braced tripod stand; R, astronomical regulator. Phelps Thomas(1694-) began as a stableman for Parker George, President of the Royal Society (1952-1764) and from 1742 became Observer in the Earl's Observatory. He was the first person in England to detect the great comet of 1743. Barlett John (1724-) was originally a shepherd and became the Assistant Observer in the Earl's Observatory
[Cloud modifications] / E Kenyon [Kennion] with Luke Howard. - n.d. [March 1849]. - one of 4 drawings: pen, watercolour, with white; 28x19cm or smaller; [Plate 1] Cumulostratus forming; fine weather cirri above. - Original studies of clouds "from nature" by Luke Howard, with landscapes by "Mr Kenyon". These were lithographed by EM Williams and printed by M&N Hanhart as illustrations for the 3rd edition of Howard's Essay on the Modifications of Clouds, 1865. The explanations of plates prefacing this edition are by "LH, March 1849" who gave "a number of sketches" to Kenyon. Clouds and landscapes of drawings 1 and 3 are closely related to engravings in Rees' Cyclopedia, dated (Science Museum copy) 1810 and 1820, after work by "E. Kennion" or E. Kennyon" ie, Edward Kennion (1744-1809). It is not known whether these watercolours were executed by 1809, by Edward Kennion using cloud sketches made by Luke Howard (1772-1864) during his most active time of cloud sketching and observation; or, whether Howard refers to Kennion's son Charles John (1789-1853), also an accomplished landscape artist, who may have worked with these sketches in 1849 or 180-. The watercolours are not dated, and more than one finished study may have been made by Howard from his sketchbooks, at any time 180- to 1849. nos. 1 and 4 together in frame 51x37.5x2.5cm.
"Parian Ware" bust, 15" high, of George Stephenson
1785
Painting. [Mrs. Sage] / artist unknown, 1785. Oil on canvas, 77x 63cm or 92 x 78.5 x 11 cm in gilt frame. Portrait, HL, of Mrs. Letitia Ann Sage, 'The first English female aerial traveller' in Lunardi's balloon ascent of 29 June 1785; with balloon motif. Head, bust, white fur mantle, hat and half-veil. aeronaut/balloonist
1697
Trade card: John Yarwell, at the Archimedes and 3 pair of Golden Spectacles in Ludgate Street, the Shop next Ludgate, London, Makes True Spectacles and other optical instruments.1697. (Calv. 461)
Gustave Doré
1872
Wood engraving from 'London: a pilgrimage', by Gustave Dore, 1872. Signed in the block blc: Over London - by Rail. Depicting [East End] tenements, washing in back gardens, chimney pots, railway in distance.
Marc Quinn
2019
Bronze sculpture 'Self Conscious Gene' by Marc Quinn, 2019. Commissioned by the Science Museum for the 'Medicine and Bodies' gallery in Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries. This monumental sculpture portrays the artist, actor and model Rick Genest, known as ‘Zombie Boy’. He stands 6 metres tall, holding an anatomy book. His upper body is covered in anatomical tattoos, his legs encased in ripped jeans, and his feet in laced boots.
1796-1826
Engraving, trade card of Dudley Adams, 60 Fleet Street London. [c1800]. 39x24.5cm to platemark. Advertising a wide range of optical, philosophical and mathematical instruments, astronomical instruments etc including demonstration pieces; terrestrial globe, air-pump, surveyor's level, forestaff, universal ring dial, protractor, waywiser, astronomical quadranton stand, azimuth compass, drawing instruments in case, Gunter's quadrant, military surveyor's gniometer, nocturnal, horizontal dial, level, backstaff, alidade and plane table, orrery, armillary sphere. Cartouche of patronage by King George III, below; portrait of Tycho Brahe, top (family firm began at TB's Head, 1735; Dudley continued it, 1795-1821). In frame 55x40x1.5cm. (16"x 10 1/2") (Calv. 5).
circa 1900
Poster, coloured lithograph, for Magni & C. Vicenza, printed by G Ricordi & C Milano c1900. On two sheets, image 98.5x71cm and text 52x72cm, together overlapping to150x72cm. [for long term preservation each part is conserved and edged, and framed separately]. Image of sower in field, sunburst; artist's name [I or M Beltrame?] br. Text panel advertising supplies and chemicals for agricultural purposes. Image frame, 107.5x78.5x2cm; text frame, 58.7x79.5x2cm.
1904
Chromolithograph: Amalgamated Society of Engineers Machinists ... by Blades, [188-?] certificate dated 1904
Engraving: Watt's first experiment of steam. By James Scott after R.W. Buss, published by Lloyd Brothers, 1849. overall: 49.5x55cm.
1860
Print. Engraving with mezzotint, [James Watt and the Steam Engine]. Engraved by James Scott, 1860, after painting by James Eckford Lander [ie, Lauder]. Trimmed
1755
Etching entitled ‘A MACHINE for a Perpetual Electrified GARDEN’. The print shows an imagined scene in which a small group of men and women in Georgian dress are inspecting an electrified garden inside a large greenhouse. The garden consists of numerous potted plants which sit in a rectangular stand raised slightly off the ground. The stand is connected at the right-hand side to an apparatus which uses hydraulic power to generate electricity for stimulating plant growth. The various components of the apparatus and the garden are lettered for identification from a key (not in the Science Museum Group's collections). Etcher unknown. Published in Benjamin Martin’s General Magazine (London, 1755).
James Hall Nasmyth
1871
Painting. [A steam hammer at work] / by James Nasmyth (1808-1890), 1871. Oil on board; 40 x 50 cm, in gilt frame 52x62x6cm. Initialled and dated bl, J.N. 1871. This is an apotheosis of the artist-engineer's invention of 1839 as a triumph of civil engineering. Inside a foundry works, the large steam hammer is shaping a massive iron bar before it can be rolled onto a plate. Possibly the sketch exhibited at a Conversazione of the Institution of Civil Engineers on 1871 June 6, item 46, and painted at their request. Steel-making
Edmund Culpeper
1720
Trade card. [Edmund] Culpeper, cross daggers representing his address [Crosse Daggers, Moor Fields] London. diagrams (from top left to top right) for two Platonic solids (cube and tetrahedron), circumferentor, lode-stone, gunner's calipers, Gunter's quadrant, dividers, set-square, horizontal dial, terrestrial globe, protractor, plotting scale, Gunter's rule, sector, dividers, backstaff, telescope, forestaff, nocturnal, parrallel rule, prism, Wilson screw-barrel, microscope, nose spectacles, reading glass, universal ring dial, plane table and alidade, graphometer, two Platonic solids (octahedron, dodecahedron). E. Culpeper Sculp. London. (Calv. 106)
Jacob Epstein
1933
Bronze bust of Albert Einstein by Jacob Epstein, 1933. Signed Epstein. Worked from a week of informal morning sittings in a retreat in a camp near Cromer, Norfolk. Einstein had left Nazi Germany and rested in this safe haven before going to the USA. The head is unfinished
Daniel Spill
1870-1875
Drawing, design for a mirror back / unsigned, n.d. [187-]. Pen and ink, 22.5x7cm. [Daniel Spill Ivoride Works]. Pattern of vine and grapes, centre quatrefoil framework tracery surrounding heraldic shield and chevrons. Verso has pencil outline and start of design. [product size 1?]. In frame with others, 56.5x54x2cm
William Ellis
1792
Print. Coloured aquatint. The Rev. Dr. Priestley's House and Elaboratory, Fair-Hill. Drawn by P.H. Witton Jnr. ; Engraved by Wm. Ellis. London, Published 1 May 1792 by J. Johnson, St Paul's Churchyard. Image 13x18.7cm, platemark 19x24.1cm on sheet 21x27cm. View of exterior of estate from roadside; house destroyed by mob, 1791, from 'Views of the Houses destroyed during the Riots of Birmingham', 1791. In frame 30x34x1.5cm
1866-1870
Engraving, some colour: [Membership Certificate] Operative Society of Bricklayers. Designed by A.J. Waudby. [c1866-1870?]. The figures Engraved by C.H. Jeens. Engraved by J.H. Le Keux. Printed by Bradbury, Wilkinson & Co. Farringdon Road, London EC. Issued Leighton Buzzard branch, March 1887. Platemark 58x45.7cm, sheet 69.5x51cm. Trade Union emblem with figures, inset scenes of gauge work, brick laying, brick making, assorted tools and props. In frame 74.5x56.5x2cm
1787
Print. Engraving, Praeclarissimus Isaacus Newton Eques, by G. Bickham, published by Robert Sayer, 8 May 1787. Depicting Isaac Newton in portrait bas-relief medallion format, bust profile to R, inset in geometric rays, centre of starry firmament with allegorical figures, putti, and assorted scientific instruments - scales, telescopes, dividers etc. Trimmed to 35 x 24 cm, image 34 x 23 cm. In frame 51x37.5x2.5cm.
Trade card for Mary Senex, Fleet Street. (Calv. 353)
Edward William Wyon
1850-1945
Small bronze bust of George Stephenson, about 13" high by Wyon
Susan Esther Reid
1770
print, mezzotint, portrait of John Arnold (1736?-1799), painted by R Davy, engraved by SE Reid, n.d. [c1765-70?]. Dedicated to the Royal Society of Arts by Susan Esther Reid. Sitter shown TQL turning to R seated holding chronometer, book of tables beside inkstand on table. [probably] After the oil by Robert Davy, 1765, inv.1868-248. In frame 53x42x1.5cm
1850
Lithograph, coloured. View of the Britannia Tubular Bridge (opened 1850) over the Menai Strait, with the road Suspension Bridge of 1826 in background. [c1850]. Overall: trimmed to 27x46cm. Shipping below bridge includes paddlesteamer. In frame 42x60.5x2cm
Langevin, Paul
1850-1860
Engraving, coloured. [Theory of pulleys] = Theorie elementaire des Poulies.. Noeuds employes dans la Marine et dans l'Industrie. Grave sur acier par Langevin; Impe par Fosset... Maison Basset..., Paris. [1850-1860?]. Book plate [two page spread] illustrating 50 assorted knots, 37 pulleys and 20 other assemblages, with key diagrams. Sheet 55x71.5cm. In frame 72.5x86x3cm
1855
Chromolithograph. South East View of Sheffield. Lithographed by T. Picken after W. Ibbitt, printed by Day & Son, [London]. Published April 7th 1855 by W. Ibbitt, 152 Broad Lane, Sheffield. Image 38x68.5cm on sheet 50x77cm. signed in stone brc W Ibbitt/55. Industrial cityscape with smoking chimneys, canal staithes and barges, workmen on break, women washday, mine heads, civic pride. In frame 66x90x2cm
Drawing, design for a mirror back / unsigned, n.d. [187-]. Pencil with monochrome wash, with white, 25x11cm on paper 28.5x20cm. Pictorial scene of rock waterfall on handle; Venus in shell. Pencilled inscription to right of handle 'rough sketch of size No. 3 mirror back'. Verso pencil outline. Pin holes at each corner. [Daniel Spill Ivoride Works]. In frame with others, 56.5x54x2cm
