Interior of the Manchester Royal Exchange

Summary

A raised perspective of the interior of the Manchester Royal Exchange. It is a grand Victorian building, with classical archways, ornate columns, and a glass dome overhead. It is filled with crowds of businessmen in top hats.

Display Label

Interior of the Manchester Royal Exchange 1877 Frederick Sargent (died 1899) and H L Saunders Oil on canvas The two artists have compiled portraits of every important gentleman in Manchester, even those who weren’t normally ‘on ‘change’, as it was called. Next to the third column back on the left, the man pointing someone out to the officer in the red hat band is Daniel Bancroft, the ticket inspector. He is probably singling out a non-member to be ejected. If you didn’t pay your subscription you were not entitled to do business in this marketplace. Recently at the gallery we’ve been asking ‘What have we learned about work during COVID and what needs to change?’ Can this picture help us understand how the division of society into ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ has come about? Gift of the Manchester Royal Exchange 1968.245