Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
Deck Scene of the Great Eastern
About the Artwork
A leading professional photographer of the mid-1850s, Robert Howlett is best known for his extended group of photographs documenting the construction and launching of the Great Eastern steamship. Designed by one of the greatest engineers of his time, I.K. Brunel, the Great Eastern took over four years to construct and, because of its immense size, an unprecedented three months to launch. For over forty years, the Great Eastern was the largest steamship ever constructed and it became a symbol of Great Britain's national pride and industrial supremacy. In this image, Howlett has captured the steamship's deck in the midst of construction while laborer's stand idly in the background and gentleman and engineers seem to confer in the foreground.
Inscriptions
Written on verso of mount in pencil: "109"
Exhibition history
Industry and Photography: Selections from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 16, 1997-March 1, 1998).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Robert Howlett (British, 1831–1858)
- Date
- 1857
- Medium
- albumen print from wet collodion negative
- Dimensions
- Image: 28.4 x 36 cm (11 3/16 x 14 3/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)
- Type
- Photograph
- Classification
- Photograph
- Department
- Photography
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 1996.355
Provenance
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s open-access data does not include an ownership history for this work. See the museum’s page for this work.
More by Robert Howlett in museum collections
![[Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern] by Robert Howlett](https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ph/web-large/DT238395.jpg)
[Isambard Kingdom Brunel Standing Before the Launching Chains of the Great Eastern]
Robert Howlett1857, printed 1863–64 · Photograph
![[Aphrodita Under Construction] by Robert Howlett](https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ph/web-large/DP-16448-006.jpg)
![[Men at Work Beside the Launching Chains of the "Great Eastern"] by Robert Howlett](https://images.metmuseum.org/CRDImages/ph/web-large/DP275749.jpg)
[Men at Work Beside the Launching Chains of the "Great Eastern"]
Robert HowlettNovember 18, 1857 · Photograph
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00012992
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