{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1462836"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1462836/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2018LD8488/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2018LD8488/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2018LD8488","copyright":"©Victoria & Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1462836","accessionNumber":"Gestetner 217","objectType":"Paper peepshow","titles":[{"title":"Thames Tunnel","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"The Thames Tunnel was one of the most popular British subjects for paper peepshows, and its enduring association with this kind of optical device can still be judged from one of its modern names, the ‘tunnel book’ (this term is most often used in the United States). The paper peepshow’s accordion shape would suggest a natural link to the form of the Tunnel, as the expanded bellows effectively create the depth impression that echoes the Tunnel archways. When we look through the peep-hole of this work, we can see pedestrians and vehicles promenading in the bright underground passage.\n\r\nThe construction of the Thames Tunnel connecting Wapping on the north with Rotherhithe on the south was authorised in 1824. Work began on the Rotherhithe shaft in March 1825, and the first Thames Tunnel paper peepshow appeared as early as 16 June of the same year, showing how the finished work would look. Although the Tunnel officially opened on 25 March 1843, the publishers’ interest in the topic would continue into the 1860s.\n\r\nSimilar to the Great Exhibition, the Thames Tunnel also generated great public excitement, and the paper peepshow is but one part of the huge souvenir market this engineering feat gave rise to. This example, however, is a hand-made copy of a French printed Thames Tunnel peepshow (see Gestetner 27). The use of a French model is unique among British hand-made Thames Tunnel paper peepshows in the V&amp;A collection. It suggests the international scale of the production and distribution of such optical entertainment. Nevertheless, the cut-out panels look strikingly similar to those in the British hand-made and printed works. It appears that the recycling of design for Tunnel paper peepshows was an international practice.\n\r\nThis paper peepshow, was probably produced while the Tunnel was still under construction, and depicts the Tunnel as imagined when completed. The horse-drawn carriages shown in the paper peepshow, for instance, were never able to enter the Tunnel in reality, as a ramp was never built.\r\n\n\r\n","physicalDescription":"Hand-made accordion-style paper peepshow of the Thames Tunnel imagined as it would appear when completed.\n\r\n4 cut-out panels. 1 peep-hole. Pen and ink and watercolour. Expands to approximately 43 cm.\n\r\nIn a red buckram portfolio, which indicates that it came from the collection of Percy Muir.  Inscription in gold on the spine: ‘THAMES TUNNEL (HOME-MADE) Ca. 1826’. \n\r\nFront-face: blue background with golden edges. The peep-hole consists of a rounded rectangular-shaped hole in the centre.\n\r\nPanel 1: a man descending the stairs with his dog on the left, a couple standing in the centre.\n\r\nPanel 2: a man and a woman in the left archway, a coach drawn by two horses and with three passengers in the right archway.\n\r\nPanel 3: a man standing next to a wagon in the left archway; two men conversing and a man carrying two pails in the right archway.\n\r\nPanel 4: a man in the left archway, a horseman in the right archway.\n\r\nBack panel: pedestrians in the left archway and a vehicle in the distance, two pedestrians and a man with a horse in the right archway.\r\n\r\n","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[],"materialsAndTechniques":"","categories":[{"text":"National Art Library","id":"THES271541"},{"text":"Optical toys","id":"THES274374"},{"text":"Paper Peepshow","id":"THES275149"},{"text":"Thames Tunnel","id":"THES280505"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"NAL","id":"THES48605"},"images":["2018LD8488"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"CA009","id":"THES388291"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"peepshows","id":"AAT211180"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1830","earliest":"1825-01-01","latest":"1834-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"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.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"13","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"14.8","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"43","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"fully extended","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Percy Muir (In a red buckram portfolio, which indicates that it came from the collection of Percy Muir.  Inscription in gold on the spine: ‘THAMES TUNNEL (HOME-MADE) Ca. 1826’).\n\nPart 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.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Thames Tunnel, ca.1830","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"R. Hyde, Paper Peepshows. The Jacqueline and Jonathan Gestetner Collection (Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 2015), cat. 217."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>Beneath the city </b>\n\r\nHidden beneath the River Thames is an old Victorian tunnel. It’s pretty busy, so you could easily blend into a crowd if you wanted to travel without being seen. \n\n<b>Thames Tunnel peepshow </b>\r\nUnknown maker \r\n1830 \r\nLondon \r\nAccepted 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. \r\nMuseum no. Gestetner 217 \n\n[Young V&amp;A, Imagine Gallery, Adventure, short object label]","date":{"text":"01/07/2023","earliest":"2023-07-01","latest":"2023-07-01"}}],"partNumbers":["38041016059180"],"accessionNumberNum":"38041016059180","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[{"type":{"text":"NAL barcode","id":"THES50330"},"number":"38041016059180"}],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2024-08-22","recordCreationDate":"2018-10-17","availableToBook":false}}