- 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 49 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. The front-face forms the lid of a cartonnage box containing the paper peepshow. Upper level: Panel 1- 3 and back panel: ships and boats on the Thames. Lower level: Panel 1: two men in uniform waving flags in the left archway; a man with a stick in the right archway. Panel 2: four military bandsmen in the left archway; a man and a woman in the right archway. Panel 3: Marc Brunel waving his hat in the left archway, a bandsman on either of his side; a couple 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.
- Current reproduction location:
- https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JP9467/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg
- Location type:
- Thumbnail
- Dimension:
- Height
- Dimension measured part:
- Front panel
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 18
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measured part:
- Front panel
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 22.3
- Dimension:
- Depth
- Dimension measured part:
- fully extended
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 49
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 21.6
- Dimension:
- Depth
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 2.8
- Dimension:
- Height
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 16.3
- Dimension:
- Width
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 21.1
- Dimension:
- Depth
- Dimension measurement unit:
- cm
- Dimension value:
- 2.2
- 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 in 2016.
- Object name:
- Paper peepshow
- Object number:
- Gestetner 155
- Object production date:
- ca. 1843
- Date - association:
- published
- Date - earliest / single:
- 1838-01-01
- Date - latest:
- 1847-12-31
- Object production place:
- Germany
- Place association:
- published
- Other number:
- 38041800930950
- Other number type:
- NAL barcode
- Other number:
- 2014297
- 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 49 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. The front-face forms the lid of a cartonnage box containing the paper peepshow. Upper level: Panel 1- 3 and back panel: ships and boats on the Thames. Lower level: Panel 1: two men in uniform waving flags in the left archway; a man with a stick in the right archway. Panel 2: four military bandsmen in the left archway; a man and a woman in the right archway. Panel 3: Marc Brunel waving his hat in the left archway, a bandsman on either of his side; a couple 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.
- Reproduction number:
- 2016JP9467
- Reproduction number:
- 2016JP9468
- Responsible department/section:
- NAL
- Technique:
- made
- Technique:
- paper
- 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. Interestingly, although the opening ceremony of the Thames Tunnel attracted much public attention in Great Britain, this work and Gestetner 156 (a later state) are the only examples in the collection that actually depict this event. Some elements are essentially reversed copies of an image from newspaper reports such as The Mirror of Literature, Amusement and Instruction.
- 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. 155.
- User's reference:
Persistent shareable link for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/753f8fc3-9fef-3ac7-aeb3-35739f399977
Use licence for this record: CC BY-NC
Attribution for this record: https://museumdata.uk/objects/753f8fc3-9fef-3ac7-aeb3-35739f399977, Victoria and Albert Museum, CC BY-NC
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