Viorama, or The Way to St Paul's
Paper Peepshow
1825 (published)
1825 (published)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This paper peepshow represents view of the City of London, with St Paul’s Cathedral in the background. The bustling of the street is very effectively portrayed with the variety of pedestrians and vehicles. The choice of the London street view exploits the paper peepshow’s potential to create an illusion of great depth. The perspective is further enhanced by the uneven distance between the cut-out panels, dictated by the paper bellows. The front-face and first two panels are much farther apart from each other than the rest, and the space between the fifth and back panels is particularly narrow. This design successfully creates the impression of looking deep into an extending thoroughfare.
The ‘Way’ to St Paul’s was particularly topical at this time. In the summer of 1825, Lt Col Sir Frederick William Trench MP proposed the construction of a two-mile ‘Triumphal Way’ from Hyde Park to St Paul’s, and a proposal which was rejected and ridiculed. By portraying the existing ‘Way’ to St Paul’s the paper peepshow would seem to say ‘what’s wrong with what we’ve got.’!
The singular name ‘Viaorama’ seems to come from combining ‘via’ (‘way’ in Latin) with ‘-orama,’ the popular suffix for optical devices in this period.
The ‘Way’ to St Paul’s was particularly topical at this time. In the summer of 1825, Lt Col Sir Frederick William Trench MP proposed the construction of a two-mile ‘Triumphal Way’ from Hyde Park to St Paul’s, and a proposal which was rejected and ridiculed. By portraying the existing ‘Way’ to St Paul’s the paper peepshow would seem to say ‘what’s wrong with what we’ve got.’!
The singular name ‘Viaorama’ seems to come from combining ‘via’ (‘way’ in Latin) with ‘-orama,’ the popular suffix for optical devices in this period.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Viorama, or The Way to St Paul's (published title) |
| Materials and techniques | |
| Brief description | Viaorama, or The Way to St Paul’s, Ingrey & Madeley, 1825 |
| Physical description | Accordion-style paper peepshow of the street leading up to St Paul’s Cathedral in London. 5 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Hand-coloured lithograph. In a slipcase. Expands to approximately 29 cm. Slipcase: covered with maroon textured paper, the title and publisher on a tasselled banner held by a man and a woman, faded image of St Paul’s in the back, a ribbon to facilitate extraction. Front-face: publisher’s detail, Fame on a cloud, the City of London coat of arms with an auctioneer and possibly a warehouseman on either side, Mansion House footmen inviting a crowd through double doors. The peep-hole is in the shape of an arch above the door. Panel 1-4: view looking east up Fleet Street to Ludgate Circus and Ludgate Hill, with pedestrians and carriages. Panel 5: St Martin Ludgate. Back panel: St Paul’s Cathedral. |
| Dimensions |
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| 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 | This paper peepshow represents view of the City of London, with St Paul’s Cathedral in the background. The bustling of the street is very effectively portrayed with the variety of pedestrians and vehicles. The choice of the London street view exploits the paper peepshow’s potential to create an illusion of great depth. The perspective is further enhanced by the uneven distance between the cut-out panels, dictated by the paper bellows. The front-face and first two panels are much farther apart from each other than the rest, and the space between the fifth and back panels is particularly narrow. This design successfully creates the impression of looking deep into an extending thoroughfare. The ‘Way’ to St Paul’s was particularly topical at this time. In the summer of 1825, Lt Col Sir Frederick William Trench MP proposed the construction of a two-mile ‘Triumphal Way’ from Hyde Park to St Paul’s, and a proposal which was rejected and ridiculed. By portraying the existing ‘Way’ to St Paul’s the paper peepshow would seem to say ‘what’s wrong with what we’ve got.’! The singular name ‘Viaorama’ seems to come from combining ‘via’ (‘way’ in Latin) with ‘-orama,’ the popular suffix for optical devices in this period. |
| Bibliographic reference | R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 197. |
| Other number | 38041016058570 - NAL barcode |
| Collection | |
| Library number | Gestetner 197 |
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| Record created | October 18, 2017 |
| Record URL |
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