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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 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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