Railway bridge over the Rhine

Lithophane, porcelain, smear glazed, captioned view showing a railway bridge spanning the Rhine between Kehl in Germany and Strasbourg in France, with locomotive on the bridge and barge traffic on the river; impressed mark 'PPM' on back and pattern number 684, made by the Plauesche Porzellanmanufactur, Plaue, Thuringia, Germany, c1860.

The caption dates this view to 1860, though the railway bridge at Kehl is usually said to have opened in 1861. It was destroyed by retreating French troops in 1940.

Purchased with the assistance of the V&A Purchase Grant Fund