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[Napoleon on St Helena]

Paper Peepshow
ca. 1830 (published)

After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and abdication of the French throne in 1815, Napoleon surrendered to the British, who decided that his final exile destination should be the remote South Atlantic island, St Helena. Six years later, in May 1821, Napoleon died on St Helena. Although there is still much debate over the cause of death, it is certain that the harsh treatment Napoleon received and the damp climate did not contribute positively to his health.

The paper peepshow, however, does not reflect any of these difficult conditions on the island. Instead, the bright colours give the representation of Napoleon’s life on St Helena a lighter mood. The romanticisation of Napoleon’s exile is particularly obvious in the pose of the former emperor himself. As Ralph Hyde (190) notes, this image takes inspiration from the British painter Benjamin Robert Haydon’s Napoleon Musing after Sunset, painted in 1829 and exhibited at the Western Exchange in 1830. The work was so popular that Haydon painted twenty-three versions and replicas of this work in total.

Both the painting and the cut-out panel represent Napoleon’s exile in the Romantics’ imagination, many of whom, including Haydon and Lord Byron, were ardent admirers of Napoleon. The expanding horizon evokes their fascination with nature, while the contemplative figure of Napoleon alludes to their interest in emotions and the examination of one’s interior world. As a whole, both imageries portray Napoleon as a tragic Romantic hero, to be admired and not pitied.

The structure of the paper peepshow is rather curious: while it has two tags intended to facilitate opening the work, the tags are attached to the back panel which makes them less functional. Also noteworthy is the fact that the work sits in a shallow cartonnage box. This is a structure often seen in German paper peepshows, and could suggest the maker might have taken some inspiration from German examples.

Object details

Categories
Object type
Title[Napoleon on St Helena] (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Brief description
[Napoleon on St Helena], ca. 1830
Physical description
Accordion-style paper peepshow of the Napoleon on St Helena island.

4 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Watercolour drawing. Expands to approximately 45 cm.

Front-face: marbled paper. The peep-hole consists of a circular opening in the centre. The front-face forms the lid of a cartonnage box containing the paper peepshow.

Panels 1 and 2: rocks and vegetation in a cave.

Panel 3: grass, trees and rocks on the open space.

Panel 4: Napoleon standing near the edge of the cliff.

Back panel: The view of the sea with rocks, birds and distant ships. On the reverse side marbled paper with two black fret-work patterns. A tag attached on either end of the back panel.
Dimensions
  • Height: 13cm
  • Width: 18cm
  • Fully extended length: 45cm
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.
Object history
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.
Summary
After his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and abdication of the French throne in 1815, Napoleon surrendered to the British, who decided that his final exile destination should be the remote South Atlantic island, St Helena. Six years later, in May 1821, Napoleon died on St Helena. Although there is still much debate over the cause of death, it is certain that the harsh treatment Napoleon received and the damp climate did not contribute positively to his health.

The paper peepshow, however, does not reflect any of these difficult conditions on the island. Instead, the bright colours give the representation of Napoleon’s life on St Helena a lighter mood. The romanticisation of Napoleon’s exile is particularly obvious in the pose of the former emperor himself. As Ralph Hyde (190) notes, this image takes inspiration from the British painter Benjamin Robert Haydon’s Napoleon Musing after Sunset, painted in 1829 and exhibited at the Western Exchange in 1830. The work was so popular that Haydon painted twenty-three versions and replicas of this work in total.

Both the painting and the cut-out panel represent Napoleon’s exile in the Romantics’ imagination, many of whom, including Haydon and Lord Byron, were ardent admirers of Napoleon. The expanding horizon evokes their fascination with nature, while the contemplative figure of Napoleon alludes to their interest in emotions and the examination of one’s interior world. As a whole, both imageries portray Napoleon as a tragic Romantic hero, to be admired and not pitied.

The structure of the paper peepshow is rather curious: while it has two tags intended to facilitate opening the work, the tags are attached to the back panel which makes them less functional. Also noteworthy is the fact that the work sits in a shallow cartonnage box. This is a structure often seen in German paper peepshows, and could suggest the maker might have taken some inspiration from German examples.
Bibliographic reference
R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 220.
Other number
38041800930992 - NAL barcode
Collection
Library number
Gestetner 220

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Record createdMarch 8, 2017
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