Drawing

John Brock established the Brock Company in Islingon in 1798 as a family-run business. It soon established a reputation for producing innovative fireworks, and rose in prominance as a result of the increasing demand for public and private displays. By the nineteenth century the expanded company was famous for staging spectacular displays, with set pieces including sea battle scenes and historic events extending to hundreds of feet. The company kept pace with new developments and the brilliance and colour of the fireworks produced by C.T. Brock were said to defy competition. Huge crowds gathered to watch the displays known as Brock's Benefits that he staged at The Crystal Palace in Sydenham several times a month during the summer season, from 1865 until 1936, when an electrical fault resulted in the huge fire that destroyed the palace.

This item is one of several theatrical drawings from a collection of sketches commissioned from contemporary artists to be printed in illustrated magazines. The collection was donated to the museum by Sir William James Ingram in 1914.