[Engraving of large, multicolored balloon adorned with flags]

Hand-tinted engraving of a large, multicolored balloon adorned with flags, art by George Sala, circa 1850. The caption engraved below the image satirically suggests that the balloon be used as the venue for the upcoming Great Exhibition in 1851.

Inscription: "In consequence of the diversity of opinion manifested as to the most eligible site for the Great Exhibition 'Wot is to be' and the conflicting claims of Rotten Row, Battersea Fields, Victoria Park, etc, the artist after wavering between Whetstone Park, Smithfield Market, and Petticoat Lane, has at length decided on the Isle of Skye, and has placed his building in a Balloon. The Structure below has been indignantly repudiated as being nothing but a 'regular trap' and likely to [illegible] unpleasant presentiments of a 'ridiculus mus.' (N.B.) It is respectfully suggested that the 'Site' of the Exhibition has nothing to do with its being what some ill-natured people assert 'All my [illegible].'"