Each year from 1871 to 1874 an Annual International Exhibition was held in South Kensington, London. These followed on from the 1851 Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations and the 1862 International Exhibition in London, and the many international exhibitions which had been held in various countries since 1851.

It was intended to be a series of 10 annual events. The first received over a million visitors and made a profit, but the subsequent three had fewer visitors and all made a loss.

Details of the 1873 Exhibition, officially described as the London Annual International Exhibition of all fine arts, industries and inventions, are quoted in this source.

Colonial exhibitions  
Colonial contributions to the annual international exhibitions in London were primarily contained in the Queensland annex. For the colonies to contribute to the annual international exhibitions in London, there needed to be more space for them to be able to set up their exhibitions. This required the construction of a new building. This new building needed funds to be built and kept in top condition throughout the years in the form of maintenance. Hence every colony that would participate in the exhibition within the Queensland Annex would be asked to donate funds based on the amount of their earnings. In the first year, only three colonies took part in the Queensland annex, more precisely the Belgian annex. The three colonies that took part in this were New South Wales, South Australia, and Victoria, during the London exhibition in 1873. During the London exhibition in 1873, the colonial exhibitions were not primarily focused on presenting recent technological developments of the current year, which was typical of nations during annual exhibitions. Instead, the colonial exhibitions favored showing artworks that depicted how the colonies lived and/or were perceived to have lived and their popular exports. This section of the annual international exhibitions in London, which enabled colonies to participate in the exhibitions, known as the Queensland annex, continued running until the exhibition was no longer open. All of the colonies that held exhibitions in the Queensland annex, after 1873 followed in the footsteps of the first three colonies that held exhibitions and would primarily present artworks about how daily life in the colonies was and their popular exports.

Indian exhibitions 

Unlike the colonies, India was present all four years that the annual international exhibitions in London were active. However, unlike the colonies that depicted the general life of the colonies and kept a similar theme throughout the years, the exhibitions that represented India had a different theme/subject each year. In chronological order, these themes of the Indian portion of the exhibitions were woolens/pottery, jewelry, silks, and leather objects. The London Exhibition of 1871 was popular among the general public. In 1872 the exhibition had a theme of showing jewelry from India. The jewelry presented was not limited to certain classes of Indian society. Instead, the exhibition of 1872 showed pieces that were worn by both sexes from all economic classes. The third exhibition, which occurred in 1873, was heavily focused on presenting Indian silks. The silks that were shown during the exhibition were both plain and embroidered. During the final year of the international annual exhibition in London, the primary theme of the Indian proportion of the exhibition was leather-made objects. However, it is important to note while each year of the annual exhibition, the Indian exhibition did have a theme, the exhibitions representing India were not limited to said themes. In fact, during every annual exhibition, there was a large amount of Indian artwork shown. These artworks included ornaments, miniatures, carvings, embroideries, etc... made of inlaid wood, metalworks, ivory, onyx. These exhibitions were presented in a location known as an Indian court.

The 1874 exhibition featured heavy use of the Royal Albert Hall. The Daily Telegraph noted that the "whole" of Gottlieb Wilhelm Leitner's collections were brought to the Hall for the exhibition. These items included "Graeco-Buddhist sculptures, Bactrian coins, and rare manuscripts".

References

World's fairs in London
1870s in London
1871 in London
1872 in London
1873 in London
1874 in London
Festivals established in 1871
1871 festivals
1872 festivals
1873 festivals
1874 festivals
1871 establishments in England
Exhibitions in the United Kingdom
Colonial exhibitions