Collection
Discover our collection of objects.
“Memoir of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel” by Richard Beamish
Copy of Richard Beamish’s Memoir of the Life of Sir Marc Isambard Brunel (1866), with a number of manuscript annotations on the flyleaves documenting the Brunel family’s genealogy. The volume also contains a manuscript dedication from John Kennedy (later Rev. John Kennedy, headmaster of Aldenham School, Herts., 1877-99) to Philip Edward Lee, dated 1865 on …
Thames Tunnel Medal
White metal medal depicting Marc Brunel (obverse) and the Thames Tunnel entrance (reverse)
ICE certificate awarding Marc Isambard Brunel the Thomas Telford Silver Medal
If you’d like a print of the certificate displayed above, you can purchase one from the ArtUK online shop.
‘Cross-section of a Tunnel for the use of infantry, shown in its full extent’
This watercolour illustration, signed and dated by Joseph Pinchback, 1818 (‘Drawn by J. Pinchback, 1818’) shows a cross-section view of an early tunnel design. It is captioned, in Marc Brunel’s hand, ‘Coupe d’une Tonnelle pour le service des gens de pied, prise dans toute son étendue’, or ‘Cross-section of a Tunnel for the use of …
Four views of the Tunnelling Shield
This grisaille watercolour is a technical illustration of one of Brunel’s early designs for the Tunnel, which he likely drew himself. At some point, the page has been cut and squared off. It is a near-identical version of what appears in Brunel’s Patent no. 4204 “Forming tunnels or drifts underground” from January 1818, in which …
Marc Brunel shoe buckles
Pair of rounded oblong shoe buckles, originally belonging to Marc Brunel, decorated with paste glass gemstones
Brunel tunnel watercolour
Watercolour of the Thames Tunnel and river above, signed by Marc Brunel, 1835
Marc Brunel mezzotint
This print depicts Marc Brunel early in his career in Britain, before work had begun on the Thames Tunnel. The print was published on 30 March 1815 by Charles Turner (1773-1857), a London engraver and publisher. The print reproduces a painting of Brunel done in 1812-13 by James Northcote which was first exhibited in 1814, …