Display Status
This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Date
1843
Country of Origin
Great Britain
Type
ART-Prints, Original
Medium
Print, Lithograph on Paper, Colored
Physical Description
Colored lithograph of the "Ariel" aircraft flying over the Nile with the Great Pyramid visible in the distance. The Ariel, or the Aerial Steam Carriage, was designed by John Stringfellow and William Samuel Henson.
'Published in London, Great Britain on March 18th, 1843 by Ackermann & Co. Strand., Day & Haghe, Lithrs. To the Queen.'
William Samuel Henson, John Stringfellow, Frederick Marriott, and D.E. Colombine, incorporated the "Aerial Transit Company" under English law in 1843. Their goal was to fund the construction of a flying machine capable of carrying "letters, goods and passengers from place to place through the air." Henson built a scale model of his design, which made one tentative steam powered run down a guide wire. Unsuccessful attempts to fly the small model, and a larger model with a 20-foot wing span, happened between 1844 and 1847. In an attempt to gain investors and support in Parliament, the company engaged in a major publicity campaign using images of the Ariel in exotic locales, but the company failed to gain the needed investment.
Dimensions
2-D - Unframed (H x W): 24.4 × 34cm (9 5/8 × 13 3/8 in.)
Inventory Number
A20140399000
Credit Line
Gift of the Norfolk Charitable Trust
Data Source
National Air and Space Museum
Restrictions & Rights
Usage conditions apply
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