The Ruins of Covent Garden Theatre, Destroyed by Fire, March 5, 1856
Print
13th March 1856 (published)
13th March 1856 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This lithograph is one of two published by Read & Co. in March 1856 depicting the scene during the fire at Covent Garden Theatre on Wednesday 5th March 1856, and the ruins afterwards.
During 1856 the proprietors of Covent Garden leased the theatre to the showman magician Professor John Henry Anderson (1814-1874) who produced a so-called 'Carnival Benefit' there on Monday 3rd March consisting of the farce The Great Gun Trick, the opera La Sonnambula, the drama Time Tries All, the 'squib' What Does He Want?, the melodrama Gilderoy and the pantomime Ye Belle Alliance; or, Harlequin and the Field of the Cloth of Gold, performed by cast members from Covent Garden, Drury Lane and the Stramd theatres. The performances were to last all Monday afternoon and evening, the extravazanza to end in with a grand Masked Ball on Tuesday 4th March. It is said that the proprietor Gye had put a veto on the Masked Ball and only let it go ahead because of the losses that ASnderson had incurred on his 6-week season there.
The Bal-Masqué was an all-night affair and the fire was reported to have been discovered at five to five in the morning when the last bars of God Save the Queen were being played. By 5.30am the roof had fallen in, and hopes of saving anything substantial from the flames had been abandoned. The caption on the associated print confirms the details of the discovery of the fire: 'On Wednesday March 5, 1856; discovered just at the conclusion of a Bal Masqué given by Professor Anderson, when the Company, rushing to the doors made their escape, and fled into the neighbouring streets for means of conveyance to their respective residences, the grotesqueness of their dresses contrasting strangely with the scene which the neighbourhood presented from so fearful a calamity occurring at that hour (6 o'clock) of the morning. The loss of property by this sad event is estimated at upward of £250,000'.
The caption on this print reads: 'Sketched after Her Majesty's visit, from the position formerly occupied by the stage, not a vestige of which remains. The high and tottering walls of this once magnificent building will shortly be levelled under the superintendence of Mr. Holland, surveyor to the commissioner of police.'
During 1856 the proprietors of Covent Garden leased the theatre to the showman magician Professor John Henry Anderson (1814-1874) who produced a so-called 'Carnival Benefit' there on Monday 3rd March consisting of the farce The Great Gun Trick, the opera La Sonnambula, the drama Time Tries All, the 'squib' What Does He Want?, the melodrama Gilderoy and the pantomime Ye Belle Alliance; or, Harlequin and the Field of the Cloth of Gold, performed by cast members from Covent Garden, Drury Lane and the Stramd theatres. The performances were to last all Monday afternoon and evening, the extravazanza to end in with a grand Masked Ball on Tuesday 4th March. It is said that the proprietor Gye had put a veto on the Masked Ball and only let it go ahead because of the losses that ASnderson had incurred on his 6-week season there.
The Bal-Masqué was an all-night affair and the fire was reported to have been discovered at five to five in the morning when the last bars of God Save the Queen were being played. By 5.30am the roof had fallen in, and hopes of saving anything substantial from the flames had been abandoned. The caption on the associated print confirms the details of the discovery of the fire: 'On Wednesday March 5, 1856; discovered just at the conclusion of a Bal Masqué given by Professor Anderson, when the Company, rushing to the doors made their escape, and fled into the neighbouring streets for means of conveyance to their respective residences, the grotesqueness of their dresses contrasting strangely with the scene which the neighbourhood presented from so fearful a calamity occurring at that hour (6 o'clock) of the morning. The loss of property by this sad event is estimated at upward of £250,000'.
The caption on this print reads: 'Sketched after Her Majesty's visit, from the position formerly occupied by the stage, not a vestige of which remains. The high and tottering walls of this once magnificent building will shortly be levelled under the superintendence of Mr. Holland, surveyor to the commissioner of police.'
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | The Ruins of Covent Garden Theatre, Destroyed by Fire, March 5, 1856 (published title) |
| Materials and techniques | paper, printing ink, glue or paste, textile, coloured ink |
| Brief description | Lithograph depicting the ruins of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, after the fire on 5th March 1856. Published on 13th March 1856 by Read & Co., Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, London |
| Physical description | Lithographed print depicting the ruins of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden. Print is glued to a piece of textile. |
| Dimensions |
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| Place depicted | |
| Association | |
| Summary | This lithograph is one of two published by Read & Co. in March 1856 depicting the scene during the fire at Covent Garden Theatre on Wednesday 5th March 1856, and the ruins afterwards. During 1856 the proprietors of Covent Garden leased the theatre to the showman magician Professor John Henry Anderson (1814-1874) who produced a so-called 'Carnival Benefit' there on Monday 3rd March consisting of the farce The Great Gun Trick, the opera La Sonnambula, the drama Time Tries All, the 'squib' What Does He Want?, the melodrama Gilderoy and the pantomime Ye Belle Alliance; or, Harlequin and the Field of the Cloth of Gold, performed by cast members from Covent Garden, Drury Lane and the Stramd theatres. The performances were to last all Monday afternoon and evening, the extravazanza to end in with a grand Masked Ball on Tuesday 4th March. It is said that the proprietor Gye had put a veto on the Masked Ball and only let it go ahead because of the losses that ASnderson had incurred on his 6-week season there. The Bal-Masqué was an all-night affair and the fire was reported to have been discovered at five to five in the morning when the last bars of God Save the Queen were being played. By 5.30am the roof had fallen in, and hopes of saving anything substantial from the flames had been abandoned. The caption on the associated print confirms the details of the discovery of the fire: 'On Wednesday March 5, 1856; discovered just at the conclusion of a Bal Masqué given by Professor Anderson, when the Company, rushing to the doors made their escape, and fled into the neighbouring streets for means of conveyance to their respective residences, the grotesqueness of their dresses contrasting strangely with the scene which the neighbourhood presented from so fearful a calamity occurring at that hour (6 o'clock) of the morning. The loss of property by this sad event is estimated at upward of £250,000'. The caption on this print reads: 'Sketched after Her Majesty's visit, from the position formerly occupied by the stage, not a vestige of which remains. The high and tottering walls of this once magnificent building will shortly be levelled under the superintendence of Mr. Holland, surveyor to the commissioner of police.' |
| Associated object | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.2569-1986 |
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| Record created | February 9, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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