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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 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:

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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