"The Chinese Bridge Illuminated" - 'On the Night of the Celebration of the Peace, 1814'*
Rare antique print, published 1814 by E. Orme
Engraved by M. Dubourg, after J. Clark
Faded hand colouring, but still a lovely old print
Presented in smart dark olive hard card mount, ready for framing
Size of image: 23.5 x 17.5 cms. Size of product: 31 x 25.5 cms.
*[taken from 'The Folly Flaneuse']: Another showpiece was the ‘beautiful Chinese bridge’ that was built over the canal. On it was constructed an ‘elegant and lofty pagoda, consisting of seven pyramidal stories’. It was illuminated with gaslights and formed the centrepiece of a huge fireworks display ‘both fixed and missile.’ The canal was the scene of mock naval battles, and there were also pleasure craft in which the public could view the scene from the water. Bands played, and there were food stalls and magnificent marquees in which to dine. Such was the excitement around the celebrations that publishers took presses to the park to issue some prints on the spot. Sadly timber buildings, fireworks and flaming gas lamps are not good companions, and as midnight approached the pagoda went up in flames, causing two deaths and a number of injuries to the men who were supervising the display. By the time the fire was extinguished the tower was reduced to only one storey and had become ‘a melancholy wreck of its former elegance’.