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Paintings, Prints & Drawings — 1851

The Opera Boxes during the time of the Great Exhibition!

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This illustration was published in a comic novel '1851: or The adventures of Mr and Mrs Sandboys and family who came up to London to 'enjoy themselves and to see the Great Exhibition' with text by Henry Mayhew and illustrations by George Cruikshank. It was later published as a separate portfolio of prints.

The book described the adventures of the Sandboys family who travelled from Cumberland to London to visit the Great Exhibition in 1851, eventually arriving just as it closed. This engraving by Cruikshank pokes fun at the numerous visitors flooding into the capital who cannot find accommodation. They retain the opera boxes in Her Majesty’s theatre overnight. Cruikshank shows a variety of activity from the domestic activities of taking tea to some figures peeping out of the curtains at the other theatre-goers.

Category:
Paintings, Prints & Drawings
Object ID:
80.349/5
Object name:
The Opera Boxes during the time of the Great Exhibition!
Object type:

print, etching

Artist/Maker:
Cruikshank, George, Bogue, David
Related people:

Related events:

Great Exhibition 1851

Related places:

London

Production date:
1851
Material:

paper, ink

Measurements/duration:
H 318 mm, W 499 mm (paper)
Part of:
—
On display:
—
Record quality:
100%
Part of this object:
—
Owner Status & Credit:

Permanent collection

Copyright holder:

digital image © London Museum

Image credit:
—
Creative commons usage:
—
License this image:

To license this image for commercial use, please contact the London Museum Picture Library.

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