Ontwerp voor een fontein met een krokodil en een vis van André tentoongesteld op de Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations van 1851 in Londen 1851

This is a photograph by C.M. Ferrier & F. von Martens, taken for the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations in London in 1851. The photograph depicts a design for a fountain featuring a crocodile and a fish. The Great Exhibition was a celebration of industrial achievements. The fountain, with its rather violent imagery of a crocodile devouring a fish, speaks to the Victorian era’s complex relationship with nature. The crocodile, often associated with exotic, far-off lands, reflects a colonial gaze, where nature is something to be conquered and displayed. The fountain design performs a hierarchy, it seems to say: some creatures dominate, while others are dominated. These types of cultural displays reinforced Britain's sense of global dominance, and the social and racial hierarchies inherent in colonial power. Consider how these historical displays shape our current understanding of the world and its power dynamics. What do you think of the choice of creatures depicted in the fountain?