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Title:: Der Themse-Tunnel./Le Tunnel sous la Themse [sic]/Thames Tunnel opened 25 March 1843
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style two-level paper peepshow of the Thames and the opening celebration of Thames Tunnel. 3 cut-out panels. 3 peep-holes. Hand-coloured lithograph. Expands to approximately 43 cm. Front-face: the bottom half of the image consists of a vignette of a workman with a lantern and shovel reclining on a roundel displaying the head of Sir Marc Brunel, principal engineer of the Tunnel. The title in German and French on either side of the vignette, and the English title is on the scroll beneath the roundel. The lower half of the front-face is a view of the Rotherhithe entrance to the Tunnel with visitors and a group of bandsmen waiting for the ceremony to begin. The three peep-holes consists of three circular openings in the centre. Upper level: Panel 1- 3 and back panel: ships and boats on the Thames. Lower level: Panel 1: two men in uniform in the left archway; a woman holding a basket and a beggar in the right archway. Panel 2: four military bandsmen in the left archway; a man and a woman in the right archway. Panel 3: an embracing couple in the left archway, a bandsman on either of their side; a woman and a man in the right archway. Back panel: two bandsmen and a procession of top=hatted dignitaries in the left archway; pedestrians in the right archway.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 16.2
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 21
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 43
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 156
Object production date:: ca.1843
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1838-01-01
Date - latest:: 1847-12-31
Object production place:: Germany
Other number:: 38041016035131
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Other number:: 2014107
Other number type:: Previous owner's number
Physical description:: Accordion-style two-level paper peepshow of the Thames and the opening celebration of Thames Tunnel. 3 cut-out panels. 3 peep-holes. Hand-coloured lithograph. Expands to approximately 43 cm. Front-face: the bottom half of the image consists of a vignette of a workman with a lantern and shovel reclining on a roundel displaying the head of Sir Marc Brunel, principal engineer of the Tunnel. The title in German and French on either side of the vignette, and the English title is on the scroll beneath the roundel. The lower half of the front-face is a view of the Rotherhithe entrance to the Tunnel with visitors and a group of bandsmen waiting for the ceremony to begin. The three peep-holes consists of three circular openings in the centre. Upper level: Panel 1- 3 and back panel: ships and boats on the Thames. Lower level: Panel 1: two men in uniform in the left archway; a woman holding a basket and a beggar in the right archway. Panel 2: four military bandsmen in the left archway; a man and a woman in the right archway. Panel 3: an embracing couple in the left archway, a bandsman on either of their side; a woman and a man in the right archway. Back panel: two bandsmen and a procession of top=hatted dignitaries in the left archway; pedestrians in the right archway.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1518151/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thame Tunnel was one of the most popular subjects for paper peepshows. Its construction started in 1825, and after various flood accidents and a long period of suspension of work between 1828 and 1835, the Tunnel finally opened to the public on 25 March 1843. It was received with great excitement both during and immediately after its construction, both in Great Britain and abroad. Yet the glory of the Tunnel did not last for very long and, in 1865 it was sold to the East London Railway Company and converted into a railway tunnel in 1869. Today the Tunnel forms part of the London Overground network. Outside of Great Britain, Germany was the country where most Thames Tunnel paper peepshows were produced. This work presents the view of the Tunnel as well as the Thames above it, on two levels. The elongated shape of the paper peepshow results in an effective perspectival view when one looks through the peep-holes: one sees in the archways the grand parade for the opening of the Tunnel, as well as visitors of all kinds, while the river view on the upper level acts as a reminder of the engineering ingenuity of the Tunnel. This work is very similar to Gestetner 155, apart from the different format of the front panel, as well as some details of the cut-out panels. Since some of the figures in this work are pasted on, one wonders whether they were added by the paper peepshow’s owner or by the publisher. Although the opening ceremony of the Thames Tunnel attracted much public attention in Great Britain, these two German works are the only ones in the collection that actually depict this event. Some elements are essentially reversed copies of an image from newspaper reports (for instance from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction, see references).
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 156.
User's reference:
Reference:: The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction, article: http://web.archive.org/web/20230120104929/https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/view-item?i=286030&WINID=1674211744373

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/72c660a9-8872-34f2-9d7c-5472af812dcf

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/72c660a9-8872-34f2-9d7c-5472af812dcf, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Title:: Children Playing at Doctors
Object name(s):: Oil painting
Brief description:: Oil on canvas. The children here are playing while their mother and grandmother are out of the house; the two children in the centre are pounding bread in a mortar and pestle to make tablets, but the child on the right has taken the game a step further by climbing on a chair to open the medicine cupboard, and is pouring a measure of perhaps poisonous liquid into a glass to administer to the 'patient'. Fortunately, the adults are seen returning through the door, otherwise the patient might become a fatality, an outcome suggested in the right corner of the picture by the doll which has fallen out of her carriage. There is a mirror on the wall which reflects the view to the outside world through the left-hand window.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: Children & Childhood
Associated concept:: Dolls & Toys
Associated concept:: Paintings
Content - concept:: childhood
Content - concept:: Children
Content - concept:: Interiors
Content - concept:: Furniture
Content - concept:: Paintings
Content - concept:: Mirror
Content - concept:: Toys
Content - concept:: Clothing
Credit line:: Bequeathed by Joshua Dixon
Current reproduction location:: https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AU9797/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg
Location type:: Thumbnail
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measured part:: estimate
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 44.7
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measured part:: estimate
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 61
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measured part:: frame
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 75.5
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measured part:: frame
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 91.5
Inscription content:: 'F D Hardy/1863'
Inscription interpretation:: Signed and dated by the artist on toy cart, lower right
Material:: oil paint
Material:: canvas
Object history note:: Bequeathed by Joshua Dixon, 1886. Hardy's long and successful career was principally devoted to painting happily nostalgic episodes in childhood, most often of a domestic and humorous nature. As with so many scenes of everyday life, this work is intended to be 'read' like a written narrative. The children here are playing while their mother and grandmother are out of the house; the two children in the centre are pounding bread in a mortar and pestle to make tablets, but the child on the right has taken the game a step further by climbing on a chair to open the medicine cupboard, and is pouring a measure of perhaps poisonous liquid into a glass to administer to the 'patient'. Fortunately, the adults are seen returning through the door, otherwise the patient might become a fatality, an outcome suggested in the right corner of the picture by the doll which has fallen out of her carriage. Hardy also uses a device much enjoyed by painters and their audience in the middle years of the nineteenth century - the mirror on the wall which reflects the view to the outside world through the left-hand window.
Object name:: Oil painting
Object number:: 1035-1886
Object production date:: 1863
Date - association:: Painted
Date - earliest / single:: 1863-01-01
Date - latest:: 1863-12-31
Object production person:: Hardy, Frederick Daniel
Person's association:: Painter
Object production place:: Great Britain
Place association:: Painted
Physical description:: Oil on canvas. The children here are playing while their mother and grandmother are out of the house; the two children in the centre are pounding bread in a mortar and pestle to make tablets, but the child on the right has taken the game a step further by climbing on a chair to open the medicine cupboard, and is pouring a measure of perhaps poisonous liquid into a glass to administer to the 'patient'. Fortunately, the adults are seen returning through the door, otherwise the patient might become a fatality, an outcome suggested in the right corner of the picture by the doll which has fallen out of her carriage. There is a mirror on the wall which reflects the view to the outside world through the left-hand window.
Reproduction number:: 2006AU9797
Reproduction number:: 2017KB7906
Responsible department/section:: PDP
Style:: British School
Technique:: oil painting
Technique:: oil on canvas
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O17368/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: Hardy's long and successful career was principally devoted to painting happily nostalgic episodes in childhood, most often of a domestic and humorous nature. As with so many scenes of everyday life, this work is intended to be 'read' like a written narrative. The children here are playing while their mother and grandmother are out of the house; the two children in the centre are pounding bread in a mortar and pestle to make tablets, but the child on the right has taken the game a step further by climbing on a chair to open the medicine cupboard, and is pouring a measure of perhaps poisonous liquid into a glass to administer to the 'patient'. Fortunately, the adults are seen returning through the door, otherwise the patient might become a fatality, an outcome suggested in the right corner of the picture by the doll which has fallen out of her carriage. Hardy also uses a device much enjoyed by painters and their audience in the middle years of the nineteenth century - the mirror on the wall which reflects the view to the outside world through the left-hand window.
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: O'Mahony, C., Brunel and the Art of Invention . Bristol: Samsom & Company Ltd., 2006. 64 p. : col. ill. ISBN 1904537502
User's reference:
Reference:: Parkinson, R., Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, London: HMSO, 1990, pp. 118-19

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/e5d7a40b-ac23-3dc1-aeb3-65bc17a11bfb

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/e5d7a40b-ac23-3dc1-aeb3-65bc17a11bfb, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Title:: Der Tunnel
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured lithograph. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 55 cm. Slipcase: Rainbow background. A label in the centre; the title in Gothic font at the top. Beneath the title is a print of the longitudinal view of the tunnellers at the working face and tunnelling shield. The monogram ‘JMB’ at the bottom. Front-face: Plain pink label with several layers of borders. The peep-hole consists of a single large oval opening in the centre. Inside the peep-hole is a double-shutter. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left, two men in the right archway. Panel 2: in the left archway, a carriage with three passengers heading away from us, and a man; a man who appears to be wheeling a barrow in the right archway. Panel 3: an equestrian in the left archway heading away from us; a single pedestrian in the right archway, and an open-carriage with three passengers heading towards us. Panel 4: a man in the left archway; a man and two equestrians in the right archway. Panel 5: a man accompanying a loaded cart in the left archway; a man in uniform in the right archway. Back panel: pedestrians and a coach and a wagon in the Tunnel archways. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative pink paper label.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 12
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 14.5
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 55
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 116
Object production date:: ca. 1835
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1830-01-01
Date - latest:: 1839-12-31
Object production person:: JMB
Person's association:: publisher
Object production place:: Germany
Other number:: 38041016035321
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Physical description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured lithograph. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 55 cm. Slipcase: Rainbow background. A label in the centre; the title in Gothic font at the top. Beneath the title is a print of the longitudinal view of the tunnellers at the working face and tunnelling shield. The monogram ‘JMB’ at the bottom. Front-face: Plain pink label with several layers of borders. The peep-hole consists of a single large oval opening in the centre. Inside the peep-hole is a double-shutter. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left, two men in the right archway. Panel 2: in the left archway, a carriage with three passengers heading away from us, and a man; a man who appears to be wheeling a barrow in the right archway. Panel 3: an equestrian in the left archway heading away from us; a single pedestrian in the right archway, and an open-carriage with three passengers heading towards us. Panel 4: a man in the left archway; a man and two equestrians in the right archway. Panel 5: a man accompanying a loaded cart in the left archway; a man in uniform in the right archway. Back panel: pedestrians and a coach and a wagon in the Tunnel archways. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative pink paper label.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1518138/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thames Tunnel was an engineering project that spurred great public excitement both in Great Britain and abroad, and the paper peepshow belongs to the wide range of souvenirs produced to cater for the public’s interest. The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825. The first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year in London, showing how the finished work would look. Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows were produced in Germany. Many of these works took inspiration from British examples: here, for instance, the first panel and the depiction of the arches clearly derive from a peepshows such as Gestetner 195, while the rest of the figures are new. Importantly, the publisher included the image of workers underground and the tunnelling shield. The shield was the piece of machinery designed by the principal engineer Marc Isambard Brunel to dig and construct the Tunnel. The view derives from Plate 3 from Zeichnungen und Notizen von den Arbeiten an dem Gange unter der Themse von Rotherhithe nach Wapping, London (Drawings and Notes from the Work on the Passage under the Thames from Rotherhithe to Wapping, London) published in 1827. This image highlights the engineering ingenuity of the Tunnel, which was also one of the important factors that attracted people’s interest in this project. Although a German work, it has an English title, and was probably intended for the British market. Typical of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows produced before the completion of the actual Tunnel, this work presents a projected rather than realistic view. The coaches and horses shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built. Although the exterior appearance of this peepshow is different from that of Gestetner 81, the inside is essentially a reverse copy of it. This work also survives in a slightly different state (Gestetner 152), and was used for a two-level paper peepshow (Gestetner 118).
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 116.
User's reference:
Reference:: Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows were also produced in Germany. While many of these works took inspiration from British examples (for example in Gestetner 195): http://web.archive.org/web/20230120110000/ http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1418257/the- tunnel-paper-peepshow-brown-t/

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/643fc11c-fbd2-35aa-9e4f-bc15180ebc70

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/643fc11c-fbd2-35aa-9e4f-bc15180ebc70, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Title:: Tunnel Views
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured lithograph. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 61 cm. Slipcase: Rainbow background. A label in the centre, and carries the title at the top. Beneath the title is a print of the longitudinal view of the tunnellers at the working face and tunnelling shield. The monogram ‘JMB’ at the bottom. Front-face: Plain pink label with several layers of borders. The peep-hole consists of a single large oval opening in the centre. In the peep-hole is a double-shutter. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left, two men in the right archway. Panel 2: in the left archway, a carriage with three passengers heading away from us, and a man; a man who appears to be wheeling a barrow in the right archway. Panel 3: an equestrian in the left archway heading away from us; a single pedestrian in the right archway, and an open-carriage with three passengers heading towards us. Panel 4: a man in the left archway; a man and two equestrians in the right archway. Panel 5: a man accompanying a loaded cart in the left archway; a man in uniform in the right archway. Back panel: pedestrians and a coach and a wagon in the Tunnel archways. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative label with flowers and patterns.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 11.5
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 14.5
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 61
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 117
Object production date:: ca. 1835
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1830-01-01
Date - latest:: 1839-12-31
Object production person:: JMB
Person's association:: publisher
Object production place:: Germany
Other number:: 38041016059255
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Physical description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured lithograph. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 61 cm. Slipcase: Rainbow background. A label in the centre, and carries the title at the top. Beneath the title is a print of the longitudinal view of the tunnellers at the working face and tunnelling shield. The monogram ‘JMB’ at the bottom. Front-face: Plain pink label with several layers of borders. The peep-hole consists of a single large oval opening in the centre. In the peep-hole is a double-shutter. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left, two men in the right archway. Panel 2: in the left archway, a carriage with three passengers heading away from us, and a man; a man who appears to be wheeling a barrow in the right archway. Panel 3: an equestrian in the left archway heading away from us; a single pedestrian in the right archway, and an open-carriage with three passengers heading towards us. Panel 4: a man in the left archway; a man and two equestrians in the right archway. Panel 5: a man accompanying a loaded cart in the left archway; a man in uniform in the right archway. Back panel: pedestrians and a coach and a wagon in the Tunnel archways. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative label with flowers and patterns.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1518140/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thames Tunnel was an engineering project that spurred great public excitement both in Great Britain and abroad, and the paper peepshow belongs to the wide range of souvenirs produced to cater for the public’s interest. The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825. The first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year in London, showing how the finished work would look. Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows was produced in Germany. Many of these works took inspiration from British examples: here, for instance, the first panel and the depiction of the arches clearly derive from a peepshows such as Gestetner 195,(see references), while the rest of the figures are new. Importantly, the publisher included the image of workers underground and the tunnelling shield. The shield was the piece of machinery designed by the principal engineer Marc Isambard Brunel to dig and construct the Tunnel. The view derives from Plate 3 from Zeichnungen und Notizen von den Arbeiten an dem Gange unter der Themse von Rotherhithe nach Wapping, London (Drawings and Notes from the Work on the Passage under the Thames from Rotherhithe to Wapping, London) published in 1827. This image highlights the engineering ingenuity of the Tunnel, which was also one of the important factors that attracted people’s interest in this project. Although a German work, it has an English title, and was probably intended for the British market. Typical of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows produced before the completion of the actual Tunnel, this work presents a projected rather than realistic view. The coaches and horses shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built. Although the exterior appearance of this work is different from that of Gestetner 81, the cut-out panels of this paper peepshow are essentially the reverse copy of it. This work also survives in a slightly different state (Gestetner 152) and was used for a two-level paper peepshow (Gestetner 118). Apart from having an English title, it is essentially a duplicate of Gestetner 116.
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 117.
User's reference:
Reference:: Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows was produced in Germany. Many of these works took inspiration from British examples: here, for instance, the first panel and the depiction of the arches clearly derive from a peepshows such as Gestetner 195: http://web.archive.org/web/20230131143427/https:// collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1418257/the-tunnel-paper- peepshow-brown-t/

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/7cd4d905-1646-31fc-9825-cf2884d6fcf8

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/7cd4d905-1646-31fc-9825-cf2884d6fcf8, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Title:: Rain, Steam, and Speed - The Great Western Railway
Object name(s):: Picture; British
Brief description:: A steam engine comes towards us as it crosses the Maidenhead Railway Bridge in the rain. Designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the bridge was completed in 1838. We are looking east towards London as the train heads to the west. The exaggeratedly abrupt foreshortening of the viaduct, which our eye follows to the horizon, suggests the speed with which the train bursts into view through the rain. Turner lightly brushed in a hare roughly midway along the rail track to represent the speed of the natural world in contrast to the mechanised speed of the engine. The animal is now invisible as the paint has become transparent with age, but it can be seen in an 1859 engraving of the painting.Turner frequently painted scenes of contemporary life and was particularly interested in industry and technology. As he often used new forms of transport, including steam trains, it is unlikely that the painting is a rejection of modernity. Instead, he saw both the train and the bridge as subjects worthy of being painted.
Collection:: National Gallery

Accession date:: 1856-01-01
Date - earliest / single:: 1856
Date - latest:: 1856
Associated concept:: railways
Associated concept:: horses
Associated concept:: hares
Credit line:: Turner Bequest, 1856
Current location:: Room 40
Current reproduction location:: 3/198/457/684/mid_N-0538-00-000091.jpg
Current reproduction location:: 2/479/37/767/mid_N-0538-00-000022.jpg
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measured part:: Overall
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 91.00
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measured part:: Overall
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 121.80
Form:: None
Material:: oil on canvas
Material:: oil
Material:: canvas
Object name:: Picture; British
Object production date:: 1844
Date - earliest / single:: 1844
Date - latest:: 1844
Object production date:
Date - period:: 1825-49
Object production person:: Joseph Mallord William Turner
Person's birth date:: 1775
Person's death date:: 1851
Object production place:: Britain
Object production place:: London
Other number:: NG538
Other number type:: object number
Other number:: 0CV2-0001-0000-0000
Other number type:: PID
Other number:: NG538
Other number type:: display number
Other number:: 000-019C-0000
Other number type:: PID (NG alternative)
Other number:: ng2538
Other number type:: sort number
Owner:: Joseph Mallord William Turner
Responsible department/section:: Main Collection
Right note:: To encourage the use and reuse of the National Gallery's collection data, they are released under the following dedications and licences: Structured data (as opposed to narrative texts) are released under a Creative Commons Zero dedication (CC0): https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/. Descriptions, notes and all other narrative text content are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence (CC BY): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Images are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 licence (CC BY-NC-ND): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
Style:: river scenes
Style:: realist
Style:: Romantic
Style:: Victorian
User's reference:: National Gallery Catalogues: The British Paintings
Reference details:: 316-25
Reference note:: Latest catalogue
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: National Gallery Catalogues: The British School
Reference details:: 152
Reference note:: Previous catalogues
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue
Reference details:: 680
Reference note:: Key bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: National Gallery Catalogues: The British School
Reference details:: 99-100
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Standing in the Sun: A Life of J.M.W. Turner
Reference details:: 292, 363-5
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Entfernung der Natur
Reference details:: 108
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: J.M.W. Turner 1775-1851
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: History and Description of the Great Western Railway
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, R.A.
Reference details:: 256-7
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Paintings and Drawings on the Backs of National Gallery Pictures
Reference details:: 152
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Dombey and Son
Reference details:: 200
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner's Sketches and Drawings
Reference details:: 119
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Colour in Turner: Poetry and Truth
Reference details:: 190, 194, 265 n. 163, 269 n. 9-10
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner's Rain, Steam and Speed
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: J.M.W. Turner: 'A Wonderful Range of Mind'
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: History of Romanticism
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner
Reference details:: 18, 93
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner: A Life
Reference details:: 300
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Stokers and Pokers; or, the London and North-western Railway, the Electric Telegraph, and the Railway Clearing-House
Reference details:: 47
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner Prints: The Engraved Work of J.M.W. Turner
Reference details:: 119, 168-9, 170, 173, 177, 196-7, 213, 226, 240
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner on the Thames: River Journeys in the Year 1805
Reference details:: 156-7
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The World of Turner
Reference details:: 171-2
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: England, Wales and Scotland
Reference details:: 157
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The National Gallery Companion Guide
Reference details:: 326-7
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Inner Life of the Royal Academy
Reference details:: 144-5
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner: His Life and Work
Reference details:: 201-2
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The British School
Reference details:: 316-25
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: History of the Great Western Railway
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Official Illustrated Guide to the Great Western Railway
Reference details:: 68
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner: L'incendie de la peinture
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Turner Gallery
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Brunel and His World
Reference details:: 59
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner
Reference details:: 197
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: J.M.W. Turner: Romantic Painter of the Industrial Revolution
Reference details:: 140-60
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth
Reference details:: 3.61-2
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner: The Masterworks
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Victorian Railway
Reference details:: 127
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Richmond Papers
Reference details:: 55-6
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Regional History of the Railways of Great Britain:the West Country
Reference details:: 1.26-7
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Poetical Works of James Thomson
Reference details:: line 401
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Turner Collection in the Clore Gallery: An Illustrated Guide
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Modern Painters
Reference details:: 25.598-601
Reference note:: Select Bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner in his Time
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Descriptive and Historical Catalogue of the Pictures in the National Gallery, with Biographical Notices of the Painters: British School
Reference details:: 103
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: L'astrattismo: Percorso e genesi
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Rain, Steam and What?
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner and the Steam Revolution
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Gautier, Turner and John Martin
Reference details:: 393
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Bridge in the Middle Distance: Symbolic Elements in Romantic Landscape
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Time's Railway: Turner and the Great Western
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Imágenes poéticas de lo sublime: Equivalencias visuales de la retórica en la pintura de Turner
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: May Gambols; or, Titmarsh in the Picture Galleries
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The Antarctic Sources for Turner's 1846 Whaling Oils
Reference details:: 28, 31 n. 45
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner as Professor: The Artist and Linear Perspective
Reference details:: 64-5, 67-9
Reference note:: Select Bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner and the Scientists
Reference details:: 141, 103
Reference note:: Select Bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Colour into Line: Turner and the Art of Engraving
Reference details:: 79-80
Reference note:: Select Bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Royal Jubilee Exhibition
Reference note:: Select bibliography
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Fruits of the Spirit: Art from the Heart
Reference note:: Additional references
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Landscape into art / Kenneth Clark.
Reference details:: Ill. plate 82b
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The railway : art in the age of steam /Ian Kennedy and Julian Treuherz.
Reference details:: Illustration. figure. 10 (page. 46)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Great masters of Impressionism : Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, and their friends, from the Pola Museum of Art.
Reference details:: Ill. fig. 2 (p. 71)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: 1844, ein Jahr in seiner Zeit : Westfälisches Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Münster, Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe, 1. Dezember 1985-2. Februar 1986 /[Ausstellung und Katalog, Siegfried Kessemeier, Wilfried Beer, unter Mitarbeit von Beatrix Althaus, Kirsten Ahrens, Carin Gentner ; Fotos, Rudolf Wakonigg].
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner, the fighting Temeraire / Judy Egerton ; with a technical examination of the painting by Martin Wyld and Ashok Roy.
Reference details:: Ill. (p. 102) ; cat. no. 3 (p. 134)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Telling time / Alexander Sturgis.
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Impressionnisme et naissance du cinématographe / sous la direction de Sylvie Ramond ; Richard Brettell [and others].
Reference details:: Fig. 26 : p. 264
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Pissarro : creating the impressionist landscape /Katherine Rothkopf ; essay by Christopher Lloyd ; contributions by Gülru Çakmak and Mary Sebera.
Reference details:: Ill. p. 120 (Fig. 1)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: J.M.W. Turner : the making of a modern artist /Sam Smiles.
Reference details:: Ill. fig. 2.4 (p. 60)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Hogarth to Turner : British painting /written by Louise Govier.
Reference details:: Cat. no. 35 (p. 70); ill. (p. 70); ill. fig. 35 (p. 50)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: If the paintings could talk… / Michael Wilson ; with a foreword by Andrew Marr.
Reference details:: Ill. (detail) (p. 129); ill. (p. 129)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner inspired : in the light of Claude /Ian Warrell ; with contributions by Philippa Simpson, Alan Crookham, and Nicola Moorby.
Reference details:: Ill. fig. 30 (p. 46)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner, Monet, Twombly : later paintings /Jeremy Lewison.
Reference details:: Ill. fig. 4 (p. 17)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Da Vermeer a Kandinsky : capolavori dai musei del mondo a Rimini /a cura di Marco Goldin.
Reference details:: Ill. (p. 74)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: The art of the National Gallery : a critical survey of the schools and painters as represented in the British collection /by Julia de Wolf Addison.
Reference details:: Ill. (opp. p. 356)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner and the Elements / catalogue: Inés Richter-Musso and Ortrud Westheider ; with contributions by James Hamilton … [et al.] ; edited by Ortrud Westheider and Michael Philipp.
Reference details:: Ill. fig. 13 (p. 71); ill. (detail) fig. 14 (p. 71)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner : malarz żywiołów.
Reference details:: Ill. fig. 13 (p. 71); ill. (detail) fig. 14 (p. 71)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Key dates in art history from 600 BC to the present / Roslin Mair.
Reference details:: P. 62
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Tengeri csaták : a festoi látásmód Veronese, Turner, ée Kandinszkij muvészetében /[a kiállítást rendezte, Tóth Ferenc ; a katalógus szerkesztette, Tatai Erzsébet ; angol fordítás, Szűcs Marianna] = Sea battles : the view of painting in the art of Veronese, Turner and Kandinsky / [organizer of the exhibition, Tóth Ferenc ; editor, Tatai Erzsébet ; translation, Szűcs Marianna].
Reference details:: Ill. fig. 16 (p. 16)
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Turner : l'incendie de la peinture /Olivier Meslay.
Reference details:: Ill. : p. 106-107
Reference type:: reference
User's reference:: Landscape and memory / Simon Schama.
Reference details:: Pl. 30
Reference type:: reference

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Use licence for this record: CC BY

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Title:: A View of the Tunnel under the Thames, as it will appear when completed
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel imagined by the publisher as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured aquatint. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 62 cm. Slipcase: a label on a blue background. The label has the title ‘A View of the Tunnel under the Thames’ combined with the price and an oval vignette of a view across the Thames and a cross section of the Tunnel. All of these are exactly as on the label on Gestetner 208. The date is changed to December 1829, and beneath the label there is a smaller vendor’s label that reads ‘by C. Essex & Co. Gloster St. St John’s.’ Front-face: the title, statistics of the Tunnel, the publisher’s imprint. A large oval peep-hole surrounding shutters. The upper shutter shows a view across the Thames, and the lower shutter illustrates the inundation of the Tunnel on 18 May 1827. The text below the shutters explains the image. It is the exact duplicate of the front-face of Gestetner 208. Panel 1: men and women descending the staircases on either side, a man in the left archway. Panel 2: a horseman riding in the left archway, an equestrian riding past a woman in the right archway. Panel 3: a man leading a horse-drawn cart in the left archway, a cart in the right archway. Panel 4 and 5: a coach in the left archway, a cab in the right archway. Back panel: a coach in the left archway, a wagon in the right archway.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 11.5
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 14.5
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 62
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 213
Object production date:: 1829
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1829-01-01
Date - latest:: 1829-12-31
Object production person:: Gouyn, M.
Person's association:: publisher
Person's biographical note:: 7 Fish St Hill, London
Object production place:: London
Place association:: published
Other number:: 38041016059131
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Physical description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel imagined by the publisher as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured aquatint. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 62 cm. Slipcase: a label on a blue background. The label has the title ‘A View of the Tunnel under the Thames’ combined with the price and an oval vignette of a view across the Thames and a cross section of the Tunnel. All of these are exactly as on the label on Gestetner 208. The date is changed to December 1829, and beneath the label there is a smaller vendor’s label that reads ‘by C. Essex & Co. Gloster St. St John’s.’ Front-face: the title, statistics of the Tunnel, the publisher’s imprint. A large oval peep-hole surrounding shutters. The upper shutter shows a view across the Thames, and the lower shutter illustrates the inundation of the Tunnel on 18 May 1827. The text below the shutters explains the image. It is the exact duplicate of the front-face of Gestetner 208. Panel 1: men and women descending the staircases on either side, a man in the left archway. Panel 2: a horseman riding in the left archway, an equestrian riding past a woman in the right archway. Panel 3: a man leading a horse-drawn cart in the left archway, a cart in the right archway. Panel 4 and 5: a coach in the left archway, a cab in the right archway. Back panel: a coach in the left archway, a wagon in the right archway.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1462820/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thames Tunnel was one of the most popular British subjects for paper peepshows, and its enduring association with this kind of optical device can still be judged from one of its modern names, the ‘tunnel book’ (this term is most often used in the United States). The paper peepshow’s accordion shape would suggest a natural link to the form of the Tunnel, as the expanded bellows effectively create the depth impression that echoes the Tunnel archways. When we look through the peep-hole of this work, we can see pedestrians and vehicles promenading in the bright underground passage. The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south was authorised in 1824. Work began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825, and the first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year. This paper peepshow is a later version of Gestetner 208. Although published more than two years after the inundation of the Tunnel on 18 May 1827, it still includes it in its front-face vignette. The first major flooding in the construction of the Tunnel, this accident occurred when almost half of the Tunnel was built. In making their escape, the resident engineer Isambard Brunel and his assistant Richard Beamish barely made it in time to reach the top of the stairs. Although the work had to be suspended for a short period after the accident, the inundation did not make any victims and the brickwork of the Tunnel remained sound. Similar to the Great Exhibition, the Thames Tunnel also generated great public excitement both at home and abroad, and the paper peepshow is but one part of the huge souvenir market this engineering feat gave rise to. Like many others, this work was published before the Tunnel was completed, and depicts the Tunnel as imagined by the publisher. The horse-drawn carriages shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built.
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 213.
User's reference:
Reference:: It is the exact duplicate of the front-face of Gestetner 208: http://web.archive.org/web/20230201115033/https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1459253/a-view-of-the-tunnel-paper-peepshow-gouyn-s-f/

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/9fb7735a-88e7-32e0-8b04-6a7befbbdcce

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/9fb7735a-88e7-32e0-8b04-6a7befbbdcce, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Object name(s):: Architectural drawing
Brief description:: Memorial album dedicated to Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt containing obituaries from contemporary newspapers and journals; drawings and designs by Digby Wyatt; and designs for a number of chromolithograph plates for Digby Wyatt's Great Exhibition catalogue, The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: Albums
Associated concept:: Architectural drawings
Associated concept:: Memorials
Associated event name:: The Great Exhibition
Current reproduction location:: https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2021NB4716/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg
Location type:: Thumbnail
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: mm
Dimension value:: 465
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: mm
Dimension value:: 280
Material:: paper
Material:: ink
Material:: watercolour
Material:: leather
Object history note:: The album was compiled in memoriam of Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt who died in May 1877, presumably to be presented to his widow, Lady Mary Wyatt. The opening dedication is signed anonymously ‘Tavistock Place, July 24 1877’. Digby Wyatt maintained a house and office at 37, Tavistock Place, but given that the dedication refers to the album as a “labour of love” and asks ‘will that friend accept it?’, the compiler is unlikely to be one of Digby Wyatt’s staff.
Object name:: Architectural drawing
Object number:: E.17-2021
Physical description:: Memorial album dedicated to Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt containing obituaries from contemporary newspapers and journals; drawings and designs by Digby Wyatt; and designs for a number of chromolithograph plates for Digby Wyatt's Great Exhibition catalogue, The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century.
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4716
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4717
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4718
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4719
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4720
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4721
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4722
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4723
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4724
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4725
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4726
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4727
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4728
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4729
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4730
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4731
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4732
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4733
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4734
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4735
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4736
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4742
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4743
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4744
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4745
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4746
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4747
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4748
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4749
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4750
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4751
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4752
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4753
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4754
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4755
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4756
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4757
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4758
Reproduction number:: 2021NB4759
Responsible department/section:: PDP
Technique:: architectural drawing
Technique:: drawing
Technique:: Pen, pencil, watercolour on paper
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1582498/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: Sir Matthew Digby Wyatt (1820-1877) was an eminent British architect and art historian. He was a member of the Wyatt family of architects and wrote and illustrated several books on architecture, design and manuscript illumination. He worked on several significant public and private commissions, most notably working with the civil engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel on the terminus of Paddington Station (1852-54) and Bristol Temple Meads Station (1865-78); Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge (1863-5); and with George Gilbert Scott, he designed the interior and Durbar Court of the India Office, Whitehall (1867-68). In 1866 Digby Wyatt received the RIBA’s Royal Gold Medal. Digby Wyatt was deeply involved in the Great Exhibition and its afterlife. In 1849 he was commissioned by the Council of the Society of Arts to complete a report on the Industrial Exposition in Paris and was later appointed Secretary to Executive Committee of the Royal Commission of the Great Exhibition of 1851. In addition to this role, he was the executant architect of the Crystal Palace, realising Sir Joseph Paxton’s design. Once the Great Exhibition opened, Digby Wyatt set about producing a catalogue of the ‘choicest specimens’ on display, culminating in the two volume illustrated publication, The Industrial Arts of the Nineteenth Century (1851-53). After the Great Exhibition closed, the Crystal Palace was relocated to Sydenham and Wyatt was the architect responsible for designing the ten architectural courts. The original designs by Wyatt, including the Byzantine Court, the Renaissance Court, and the German Medieval Vestibule, are held by the V&A (E.553 to 559-1911). Digby Wyatt was a key figure in the early history of the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). He was considered by Henry Cole as an ‘agreeable companion’ (AAD, 26 June 1868), and served as one of the ‘Art Referees’ for the museum. This was a select group of men and women, including William Morris and Sir Frederic Leighton, who advised the museum on significant acquisitions. The album was compiled in memoriam of Digby Wyatt who died in May 1877, presumably to be presented to his widow, Lady Mary Wyatt. The opening dedication is signed anonymously ‘Tavistock Place, July 24 1877’. Digby Wyatt maintained a house and office at 37, Tavistock Place, but given that the dedication refers to the album as a “labour of love” and asks ‘will that friend accept it?’, the compiler is unlikely to be one of Digby Wyatt’s staff.
Text reason:: Summary description

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/fb3bfefb-38a2-3779-9401-9373c036de41

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/fb3bfefb-38a2-3779-9401-9373c036de41, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Title:: Optique No. 6 Pont sous la Tamise
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 4 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured line engraving and aquatint. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 53.5 cm. Slipcase: marbled background, a label with the title in the centre. Front-face: view of the Thames from Blackfriars Bridge towards London Bridge. The City with St Paul’s Cathedral is on the left and Southwark on the right. The English title appears on a scroll in the sky, while the French one is at the bottom inside the peep-hole. The peep-hole consists of a rounded rectangular-shaped hole set on an imagined parapet. Beneath the peep-hole is a short description of the Thames Tunnel in italicised French. Panel 1: two men going up the stairs on the right; a couple standing in the centre; a man descending the stairs with a dog on the left. Panel 2: a coach with three passengers, drawn by two horses, and a man in the right archway; a man and a woman in the left archway. Panel 3: a man carrying pails and two men conversing in the right archway; a loaded wagon and a man in the left archway. Panel 4: an equestrian in the right archway, a single pedestrian in the left archway. Back panel: pedestrians and a vehicle in the Tunnel archways. The vendor’s label ‘Gardet, Md. Papetier, Rue Vivienne No. 10 à Paris’ on the reverse of the back panel.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 12
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 14.4
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 53.5
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 27
Object production date:: ca. 1828
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1823-01-01
Date - latest:: 1832-12-31
Other number:: 38041016059297
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Physical description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 4 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured line engraving and aquatint. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 53.5 cm. Slipcase: marbled background, a label with the title in the centre. Front-face: view of the Thames from Blackfriars Bridge towards London Bridge. The City with St Paul’s Cathedral is on the left and Southwark on the right. The English title appears on a scroll in the sky, while the French one is at the bottom inside the peep-hole. The peep-hole consists of a rounded rectangular-shaped hole set on an imagined parapet. Beneath the peep-hole is a short description of the Thames Tunnel in italicised French. Panel 1: two men going up the stairs on the right; a couple standing in the centre; a man descending the stairs with a dog on the left. Panel 2: a coach with three passengers, drawn by two horses, and a man in the right archway; a man and a woman in the left archway. Panel 3: a man carrying pails and two men conversing in the right archway; a loaded wagon and a man in the left archway. Panel 4: an equestrian in the right archway, a single pedestrian in the left archway. Back panel: pedestrians and a vehicle in the Tunnel archways. The vendor’s label ‘Gardet, Md. Papetier, Rue Vivienne No. 10 à Paris’ on the reverse of the back panel.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1518121/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thames Tunnel was an engineering project that spurred great public excitement both in Great Britain and abroad, and paper peepshows belonged to the wide range of souvenirs produced to cater for the public’s interest. The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north bank with Rotherhithe to the south was authorised in 1824. Work began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825, and the first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year in London, showing how the finished work would look. The paper peepshow’s shape effectively conveys the shape of the Tunnel and makes it the perfect device to render this type of monumental structure. Between ca. 1825 and ca. 1833, a series of paper peepshows numbered 1 to 13 was published in France under the name of ‘Optiques’. As they share many physical characteristics, they may have come from the same publisher. This example is the only one in the series to be dedicated to a non-French subject matter. The inscription on the front points out that the principal engineer Marc Isambard Brunel was born in France. This may have been a reason why the publisher chose to add the Thames Tunnel to the series’ otherwise French attractions, but it also reflects the great interest in the Tunnel outside of Great Britain. Although a French production, this work has its title also in English, which suggests that an international market was intended. Compared to Tunnel paper peepshows produced in Great Britain, it is more finely executed, with crisper outlines and more detail. If the Thames view on the front is subtly rendered, the cut-out panels take much inspiration from contemporary British paper peepshows, such as Gestetner 195, (see references). In turn it was used as inspiration by a few German examples (see Gestetner 82 and Gestetner 83). Typical of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows produced before the completion of the actual Tunnel, this work presents a projected rather than realistic view. The coaches and horses shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built. The work is ascribed to A. Giroux et Cie in William Duck’s 1988 catalogue, while another copy of it bears the vendor’s label of ‘Susse, Place de la Bourse, Paris’ (Hyde, 96).
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 27.
User's reference:
Reference:: If the Thames view on the front is subtly rendered, the cut-out panels take much inspiration from contemporary British paper peepshows, such as Gestetner 195: http://web.archive.org/web/20230131143427/https:// collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1418257/the-tunnel-paper- peepshow-brown-t/

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/255b1843-4a2d-3674-822e-c84d91af6343

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

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Title:: Der Tunnel
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured lithograph. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 64 cm. Slipcase: Rainbow background. A label in the centre, and title at the top. Beneath the title is a print of the longitudinal view of the tunnellers at the working face and tunnelling shield. Front-face: Plain pink label with several layers of borders. The peep-hole consists of a single large oval opening in the centre. Inside the peep-hole is a double-shutter. The upper half shows the Thames while the lower half shows the Tunnel archways. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left, two men in the right archway. Panel 2: in the left archway, a carriage with three passengers heading away from us, and a man; a man who appears to be wheeling a barrow in the right archway. Panel 3: an equestrian in the left archway heading away from us; a single pedestrian in the right archway, and an open-carriage with three passengers heading towards us. Panel 4: a man in the left archway; a man and two equestrians in the right archway. Panel 5: a man accompanying a loaded cart in the left archway; a man in uniform in the right archway. Back panel: pedestrians and a coach and a wagon in the Tunnel archways. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative pink paper label.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 11.9
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 14.6
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 64
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 152
Object production date:: pre-1843
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1843-01-01
Date - latest:: 1843-12-31
Object production person:: JMB
Person's association:: publisher
Object production place:: Germany
Other number:: 38041016035479
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Physical description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured lithograph. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 64 cm. Slipcase: Rainbow background. A label in the centre, and title at the top. Beneath the title is a print of the longitudinal view of the tunnellers at the working face and tunnelling shield. Front-face: Plain pink label with several layers of borders. The peep-hole consists of a single large oval opening in the centre. Inside the peep-hole is a double-shutter. The upper half shows the Thames while the lower half shows the Tunnel archways. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left, two men in the right archway. Panel 2: in the left archway, a carriage with three passengers heading away from us, and a man; a man who appears to be wheeling a barrow in the right archway. Panel 3: an equestrian in the left archway heading away from us; a single pedestrian in the right archway, and an open-carriage with three passengers heading towards us. Panel 4: a man in the left archway; a man and two equestrians in the right archway. Panel 5: a man accompanying a loaded cart in the left archway; a man in uniform in the right archway. Back panel: pedestrians and a coach and a wagon in the Tunnel archways. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative pink paper label.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1518148/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thames Tunnel was an engineering project that spurred great public excitement both in Great Britain and abroad, and the paper peepshow belongs to the wide range of souvenirs produced to cater for the public’s interest. The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825. The first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year in London, showing how the finished work would look. Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows was produced in Germany. Many of these works took inspiration from British examples: here, for instance, the first panel and the depiction of the arches clearly derive from a peepshows such as Gestetner 195, while the rest of the figures are new. Importantly, the publisher included the image of workers underground and the tunnelling shield. The shield was the piece of machinery designed by the principal engineer Marc Isambard Brunel to dig and construct the Tunnel. The view derives from Plate 3 from Zeichnungen und Notizen von den Arbeiten an dem Gange unter der Themse von Rotherhithe nach Wapping, London (Drawings and Notes from the Work on the Passage under the Thames from Rotherhithe to Wapping, London) published in 1827. This image highlights the engineering ingenuity of the Tunnel, which was also one of the important factors that attracted people’s interest in this project. Although a German work, it has an English title, and was probably intended for the British market. Typical of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows produced before the completion of the actual Tunnel, this work presents a projected rather than realistic view. The coaches and horses shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built. Although the exterior appearance of this peepshow is different from that of Gestetner 81, the inside is essentially a reverse copy of it. Apart from the difference in the font of the title and the slipcase image, this work is essentially a duplicate of Gestetner 116. It was also used for a two-level paper peepshow (Gestetner 118).
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 152.
User's reference:
Reference:: Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows were also produced in Germany. While many of these works took inspiration from British examples (for example in Gestetner 195): http://web.archive.org/web/20230120110000/ http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1418257/the- tunnel-paper-peepshow-brown-t/
User's reference:
Reference:: The view derives from Plate 3 from Zeichnungen und Notizen von den Arbeiten an dem Gange unter der Themse von Rotherhithe nach Wapping, London (Drawings and Notes from the Work on the Passage under the Thames from Rotherhithe to Wapping, London) published in 1827.

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/e723d097-e678-3c77-bba9-451a17ba1d8b

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/e723d097-e678-3c77-bba9-451a17ba1d8b, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Title:: A View of the Tunnel under the Thames, as it will appear when completed
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel imagined by the publisher as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured aquatint. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 62 cm. Slipcase: a label on a brown background. The label carries the title ‘A View of the Tunnel under the Thames’ and the price and published date of February 1828. It also has an oval vignette of a view across the Thames and a cross section of the Tunnel. The vignette is very similar to the shutter image in Gestetner 198 and Gestetner 199, (see references). On the reverse side is the vendor’s label that reads ‘W. & A. Essex, Bazaar, Nos. 333, 4, 5, & 6 Soho Square.’ Front-face: the title, statistics of the Tunnel, the publisher’s imprint. A large oval peep-hole surrounding shutters. The upper shutter shows a view across the Thames, and the lower shutter illustrates the inundation of the Tunnel on 18 May 1827. The text below the shutters explains the image. Ties attached near the top. Panel 1: men and women descending the staircases on either side, a man in the left archway. Panel 2: empty left archway, an equestrian riding past a woman in the right archway. Panel 3: an equestrian riding in the left archway, a cart in the right archway. Panel 4 and 5: a coach in the left archway, a cab in the right archway. Back panel: a coach in the left archway, a wagon in the right archway. Ties attached near the top.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 11.5
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 14.5
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 62
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 208
Object production date:: 1828
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1828-01-01
Date - latest:: 1828-12-31
Object production person:: Gouyn, S. F.
Person's association:: publisher
Person's biographical note:: 7 Fish St. Hill, London
Object production place:: London
Place association:: published
Other number:: 38041016058984
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Physical description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel imagined by the publisher as it would appear when completed. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured aquatint. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 62 cm. Slipcase: a label on a brown background. The label carries the title ‘A View of the Tunnel under the Thames’ and the price and published date of February 1828. It also has an oval vignette of a view across the Thames and a cross section of the Tunnel. The vignette is very similar to the shutter image in Gestetner 198 and Gestetner 199, (see references). On the reverse side is the vendor’s label that reads ‘W. & A. Essex, Bazaar, Nos. 333, 4, 5, & 6 Soho Square.’ Front-face: the title, statistics of the Tunnel, the publisher’s imprint. A large oval peep-hole surrounding shutters. The upper shutter shows a view across the Thames, and the lower shutter illustrates the inundation of the Tunnel on 18 May 1827. The text below the shutters explains the image. Ties attached near the top. Panel 1: men and women descending the staircases on either side, a man in the left archway. Panel 2: empty left archway, an equestrian riding past a woman in the right archway. Panel 3: an equestrian riding in the left archway, a cart in the right archway. Panel 4 and 5: a coach in the left archway, a cab in the right archway. Back panel: a coach in the left archway, a wagon in the right archway. Ties attached near the top.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1459253/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thames Tunnel was one of the most popular British subjects for paper peepshows, and its enduring association with this kind of optical device can still be judged from one of its modern names, the ‘tunnel book’ (this term is most often used in the United States). The paper peepshow’s accordion shape would suggest a natural link to the form of the Tunnel, as the expanded bellows effectively create the depth impression that echoes the Tunnel archways. When we look through the peep-hole of this work, we can see pedestrians and vehicles promenading in the bright underground passage. The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south was authorised in 1824. Work began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825, and the first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year. In this paper peepshow, although the publisher uses stereotypical contents for the cut-out panels, he attempts to demonstrate the contemporaneity of his product by including an illustration of the first major flooding in the Tunnel that happened on 18 May 1827, when almost half of the Tunnel was built. In making their escape, the resident engineer Isambard Brunel and his assistant Richard Beamish barely made it in time to reach the top of the stairs. Although the work had to be suspended for a short period after the accident, the inundation did not make any victims and the brickwork of the Tunnel remained sound. Like the Great Exhibition, the Thames Tunnel generated great public excitement both at home and abroad, and the paper peepshow is but one part of the huge souvenir market this engineering feat gave rise to. The publisher of this paper peepshow appears to have taken advantage of this market, as he was producing the same product for over a year (Gestetner 213, see references). Like many others, this work was published before the Tunnel was completed, and depicts the Tunnel as imagined by the publisher. The horse-drawn carriages shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built.
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 208.
User's reference:
Reference:: The publisher of this paper peepshow appears to have taken advantage of this market, as he was producing the same product for over a year (Gestetner 213): http://web.archive.org/web/20230131154954/https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1462820/a-view-of-the-tunnel-paper-peepshow-gouyn-m/

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/5ba0fe08-47a2-3683-8adf-90f45eb13309

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/5ba0fe08-47a2-3683-8adf-90f45eb13309, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Title:: Perspectivische Ansicht des Tunnels unter der Themse von Rotherhithe nach Wapping London
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 7 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. 1 removable slide. Hand-coloured line engraving. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 83 cm. Slipcase: White label on a green background. The label carries the title and at the bottom a small shield the publisher’s monogram JMB. Front-face: Pink paper on which the design of Gothic tracery is printed. The design is heightened with blue wash. The peep-hole consists of the opening in the central arch. The bottom half of the arch is covered by a shutter. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left; a man conversing with a workman with a wheel-barrel in the right archway; a man ascending the stairs on the right. Panel 2: two workmen conversing and a man walking by in the left archway; two men conversing and a couple walking by in the right archway. Panel 3: a couple and a two-horse drawn coach with three passengers in the left archway; two workmen in the right archway, one with a wheel-barrow. Panel 4: two equestrians in the left archway; a man and a four-horse drawn coach with several passengers in the right archway. Panel 5: a man with a wagon in the left archway; a man and an equestrian trying to tame another horse in the right archway. Panel 6: a seated man, an equestrian and a man walking in the left archway; a couple and a one-horse drawn coach with two passengers in the right archway. Panel 7: a man and a two-horse drawn coach with three passengers in the left archway; three men in military uniform conversing in the right archway. Back panel: a coach and several passengers, and many pedestrians in the left archway; a wagon and pedestrians in the right archway. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative pink paper label. Removable slide: scene of the tunnelling shield and men working. Two men wearing top hats are observing the work on the left.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 14.4
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 17.8
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 83
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 119
Object production date:: ca. 1835
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1830-01-01
Date - latest:: 1839-12-31
Object production person:: JMB
Person's association:: publisher
Object production place:: Germany
Other number:: 38041016035172
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Physical description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 7 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. 1 removable slide. Hand-coloured line engraving. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 83 cm. Slipcase: White label on a green background. The label carries the title and at the bottom a small shield the publisher’s monogram JMB. Front-face: Pink paper on which the design of Gothic tracery is printed. The design is heightened with blue wash. The peep-hole consists of the opening in the central arch. The bottom half of the arch is covered by a shutter. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left; a man conversing with a workman with a wheel-barrel in the right archway; a man ascending the stairs on the right. Panel 2: two workmen conversing and a man walking by in the left archway; two men conversing and a couple walking by in the right archway. Panel 3: a couple and a two-horse drawn coach with three passengers in the left archway; two workmen in the right archway, one with a wheel-barrow. Panel 4: two equestrians in the left archway; a man and a four-horse drawn coach with several passengers in the right archway. Panel 5: a man with a wagon in the left archway; a man and an equestrian trying to tame another horse in the right archway. Panel 6: a seated man, an equestrian and a man walking in the left archway; a couple and a one-horse drawn coach with two passengers in the right archway. Panel 7: a man and a two-horse drawn coach with three passengers in the left archway; three men in military uniform conversing in the right archway. Back panel: a coach and several passengers, and many pedestrians in the left archway; a wagon and pedestrians in the right archway. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative pink paper label. Removable slide: scene of the tunnelling shield and men working. Two men wearing top hats are observing the work on the left.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1518143/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thames Tunnel was an engineering project that spurred great public excitement both in Great Britain and abroad, and paper peepshows belonged to the wide range of souvenirs produced to cater for the public’s interest. The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825. The first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year in London, showing how the finished work would look. Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows were produced in Germany. Many of these works took inspiration from British examples: here, for instance, the first panel and the depiction of the arches clearly derive from a peepshows such as Gestetner 195, (see references). Yet it also innovates on a few fronts. It has more cut-out panels than many other examples, and thus creates an even more effective illusion of depth. The publisher also included a greater variety of figures in the Tunnel, including characters sitting down and having problems with their vehicles, seldom seen in other works. Perhaps the most interesting aspect about this paper peepshow is the inclusion of the removable slide that shows the scene of the Tunnel being constructed and the tunnelling shield, the piece of machinery designed by principal engineer Marc Isambard Brunel and was instrumental in the building of the Thames Tunnel. Unlike other paper peepshows that only give the imagined view of the finished Tunnel, this work gives the alternative scene of the engineering project in its current stage. The front-face of this work shows Gothic tracery, entirely unrelated to the Thames Tunnel. It is difficult to know why the publisher chose this design, but a similar front panel was used by a different publisher (see Gestetner 94 and Gestetner 95). Typical of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows produced before the completion of the actual Tunnel, this work presents a projected rather than realistic view. The coaches and horses shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built. A different state of this peepshow (Gestetner 121), is also in the collection.
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 119.
User's reference:
Reference:: Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows was produced in Germany. Many of these works took inspiration from British examples: here, for instance, the first panel and the depiction of the arches clearly derive from a peepshows such as Gestetner 195: http://web.archive.org/web/20230120110000/http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1418257/the-tunnel-paper-peepshow-brown-t/

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/133c539f-a1a7-32ac-bdd8-427fb85a6cab

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/133c539f-a1a7-32ac-bdd8-427fb85a6cab, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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Title:: [Thames Tunnel]
Object name(s):: Paper peepshow
Brief description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 7 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. 1 removable slide. Hand-coloured line engraving. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 75 cm. Slipcase: scene of the tunnelling shield and men working. Two men wearing top hats are observing the work on the left. Front-face: Pink paper on which the design of Gothic tracery is printed. The design is heightened with blue wash. The peep-hole consists of the opening in the central arch. The bottom half of the arch is covered by a shutter, which is worn. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left; a man in the right archway; a man ascending the stairs on the right. Panel 2: two workmen conversing and a man walking by in the left archway; two men conversing and a couple walking by in the right archway. Panel 3: a couple and a two-horse drawn coach with three passengers in the left archway; two workmen in the right archway, one with a wheel-barrel. Panel 4: two equestrians in the left archway; a man and a four-horse drawn coach with several passengers in the right archway. Panel 5: a man with a wagon in the left archway; a man and an equestrian trying to tame another horse in the right archway. Panel 6: a seated man, an equestrian and a man walking in the left archway; a couple and a one-horse drawn coach with two passengers in the right archway. Panel 7: a man and a two-horse drawn coach with three passengers in the left archway; three men in military uniform conversing in the right archway. Back panel: a coach and several passengers, and many pedestrians in the left archway; a wagon and pedestrians in the right archway. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative pink paper label. Removable slide: scene of the tunnelling shield and men working. Two men wearing top hats are observing the work on the left.
Collection:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Associated concept:: National Art Library
Associated concept:: Optical toys
Associated concept:: Paper Peepshow
Associated concept:: Thames Tunnel
Credit line:: Accepted under the Cultural Gifts Scheme by HM Government from the collections of Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner and allocated to the Victoria and Albert Museum, 2016.
Dimension:: Height
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 14.4
Dimension:: Width
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 17.8
Dimension:: Length
Dimension measured part:: fully extended
Dimension measurement unit:: cm
Dimension value:: 75
Material:: paper
Object history note:: Percy Mury (in a red buckram portfolio, which indicates that it came from the collection of Percy Muir. Inscription in gold on the spine: ‘Thames Tunnel.’) Part of the Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection, collected over 30 years and given to the V&A Museum through the government's Cultural Gift Scheme, 2016.
Object name:: Paper peepshow
Object number:: Gestetner 121
Object production date:: ca. 1835
Date - association:: published
Date - earliest / single:: 1830-01-01
Date - latest:: 1839-12-31
Object production person:: JMB
Person's association:: publisher
Object production place:: Germany
Other number:: 38041016035370
Other number type:: NAL barcode
Physical description:: Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel as it would appear when completed. 7 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. 1 removable slide. Hand-coloured line engraving. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 75 cm. Slipcase: scene of the tunnelling shield and men working. Two men wearing top hats are observing the work on the left. Front-face: Pink paper on which the design of Gothic tracery is printed. The design is heightened with blue wash. The peep-hole consists of the opening in the central arch. The bottom half of the arch is covered by a shutter, which is worn. Panel 1: a man descending the stairs on the left; a man in the right archway; a man ascending the stairs on the right. Panel 2: two workmen conversing and a man walking by in the left archway; two men conversing and a couple walking by in the right archway. Panel 3: a couple and a two-horse drawn coach with three passengers in the left archway; two workmen in the right archway, one with a wheel-barrel. Panel 4: two equestrians in the left archway; a man and a four-horse drawn coach with several passengers in the right archway. Panel 5: a man with a wagon in the left archway; a man and an equestrian trying to tame another horse in the right archway. Panel 6: a seated man, an equestrian and a man walking in the left archway; a couple and a one-horse drawn coach with two passengers in the right archway. Panel 7: a man and a two-horse drawn coach with three passengers in the left archway; three men in military uniform conversing in the right archway. Back panel: a coach and several passengers, and many pedestrians in the left archway; a wagon and pedestrians in the right archway. The reverse side is pasted with a decorative pink paper label. Removable slide: scene of the tunnelling shield and men working. Two men wearing top hats are observing the work on the left.
Responsible department/section:: NAL
Text:: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1518146/
Text reason:: Collections online record
Text:: The Thames Tunnel was an engineering project that spurred great public excitement both in Great Britain and abroad, and paper peepshows belonged to the wide range of souvenirs produced to cater for the public’s interest. The construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825. The first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year in London, showing how the finished work would look. Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows was produced in Germany. Many of these works took inspiration from British examples: here, for instance, the first panel and the depiction of the arches clearly derive from a peepshows such as Gestetner 195. Yet it also innovates on a few fronts. It has more cut-out panels than many other examples, and thus creates an even more effective illusion of depth. The publisher also included a greater variety of figures in the Tunnel, including characters sitting down and having problems with their vehicles, seldom seen in other works. Perhaps the most interesting aspect about this paper peepshow is the inclusion of the removable slide that shows the scene of the Tunnel being constructed and the tunnelling shield, the piece of machinery designed by principal engineer Marc Isambard Brunel and was instrumental in the building of the Thames Tunnel. Unlike other paper peepshows that only give the imagined view of the finished Tunnel, this work gives the alternative scene of the engineering project in its current stage. Apart from a different slipcase image, a more saturated yellow tone and a lighter colour for the horses, this work is essentially a duplicate of Gestetner 121. The front-face of this work shows Gothic tracery, entirely unrelated to the Thames Tunnel. It is difficult to know why the publisher chose this design, but a similar front panel was used by a different publisher (see Gestetner 94 and Gestetner 95). Typical of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows produced before the completion of the actual Tunnel, this work presents a projected rather than realistic view. The coaches and horses shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built.
Text reason:: Summary description
User's reference:
Reference:: R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 121.
User's reference:
Reference:: Outside of Great Britain, a substantial amount of Thames Tunnel paper peepshows were also produced in Germany. While many of these works took inspiration from British examples (for example in Gestetner 195): http://web.archive.org/web/20230120110000/ http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1418257/the- tunnel-paper-peepshow-brown-t/

Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/13c630c4-1610-3caf-a34e-f7bfd8e53297

Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC

Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/13c630c4-1610-3caf-a34e-f7bfd8e53297, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC

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