Light was a luxury commodity in Georgian London. Night was a foreboding time, with the streets plunged in darkness. People relied on candles or oil lamps at home, while municipal oil lighting provided a dim glow only to major streets and thoroughfares.
However, visitors to Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in the mid-18th century were in for a treat. As well as being a popular destination where people could enjoy music, art, food and drink, the 4.5ha site was decorated with thousands of multicoloured oil lamps placed in the trees and buildings. At dusk, the lamps would be ignited, illuminating the gardens to the joy of sightseers. The attractions became increasingly extravagant; in later years, lucky visitors saw the legendary French acrobat Madame Saqui performing on an angled tightrope while fireworks exploded all around her. Those Georgians knew how to have fun.
The festivities at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens feature heavily in Georgian Illuminations, an exhibition at Sir John Soane’s Museum, which explores the spectacular celebrations of the period involving dazzling light displays and grand structures by leading architects. The story is told through architectural drawings, prints and a few original artefacts from the time.
These illuminations began as exclusive events for the rich. In 1763, for example, Queen Charlotte commissioned architect Robert Adam to pull off a surprise birthday party for King George III. Adam’s original design for a colonnaded pavilion proved too expensive so he provided a scaled-down version composed of smaller structures and floral garlands replacing ornate colonnades. On the night, oil lights and colourful transparencies (elaborately painted linen sheets that were hung in windows and back lit) were revealed to accompanying orchestral music – with the young king reportedly impressed with the spectacle.
A visitor takes a closer look at the restored transparencies in the Soane’s Foyle Space
In a sign of how lavish such events could be, the largest space Adam ever designed was for a temporary ballroom for the nuptial celebrations of aristocrats Edward Stanley and Elizabeth Hamilton in 1774, one of the most expensive private parties given in Georgian times.
General illuminations saw light shows rolled out across towns and cities to celebrate events of national importance. Everybody was expected to take part, with householders placing candles or lamps in their windows while the very wealthy employed renowned designers to create striking light installations.
As the Bank of England’s architect and surveyor from 1788 to 1833, John Soane was responsible for the building’s displays. Included in the exhibition are the transparency designs he commissioned from William Hamilton for the bank’s central window to celebrate George III’s recovery from illness in 1789. Together with a scheme of over 10,000 oil lamps, it took six days to install, winning plaudits from the press and the public.
A royal fireworks display in Green Park in 1749, for which Handel wrote his famed Music for the Royal Fireworks
Perhaps the most spectacular illumination was seen in 1814 when the abdication of Napoleon led to nationwide celebrations to mark the peace (although true peace wouldn’t come till a year later). In Green Park, a temporary fortress was erected and subjected to a mock siege complete with explosions to show enthralled onlookers the power of the British Army. As if that wasn’t dramatic enough, in the evening the castle was enveloped in thick smoke and its walls torn down to the sound of music and fireworks to reveal another structure underneath – the Temple of Concord – a grand illuminated pavilion designed by Jeffrey Wyatt.
Meanwhile, John Nash designed a colourful ‘Chinese’ bridge in St James’s Park, capped by a stunning seven-storey pagoda. The pagoda was equipped with fireworks to be fired from each floor and the whole structure was illuminated by gaslight – a new development brought to selected London streets a few years earlier.
The exhibition galleries at Sir John Soane’s Museum
Sadly, the pagoda was destroyed by fire not long into the display, serving as a fitting epitaph to the era of general illuminations. With the spread of street lighting boosted by brighter gaslight from the 19th century, much of the mystery of such events was lost and entertainment moved to indoor music halls, drinking dens, casinos and members’ clubs.
These are the highlights of an exhibition exploring this fascinating yet little-known aspect of Georgian cultural life. However, it is difficult to appreciate the sheer spectacle of general illuminations in a show that relies heavily on prints and drawings – light displays are intangible by nature.
A paper peepshow of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, circa 1825
The curators successfully compensate for this by including a few installations outside of the main exhibition that better evoke the celebrations. Visitors should consider them an essential part of their viewing to fully appreciate what they learn from the first-floor gallery. Crucially, the Foyle Space includes two extremely rare transparencies from the 1814 illumination. They have been carefully restored and are set on specially made lightboxes, giving a sense of the detail, colour and luminescence that transparencies of the day would have had. Meanwhile, tucked away in the basement, you’ll find a lattice of multicoloured oil lamps suspended in front of a window as if in preparation for an upcoming illuminations night.
Overlapping details of Nayan Kulkarni’s illumination on the facade of the Museum
And be sure to pass the museum after dark. Each evening the building will be lit up by a light projection by multimedia artist Nayan Kulkarni, who has taken inspiration from Soane’s work. As you gather with other passers-by and gaze at the interplay of light on the Georgian façade, you’ll get a glimpse of the wonder people felt when they roamed the same streets to enjoy evening illuminations 200 years ago.
Georgian Illuminations at Sir John Soane’s Museum, 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London WC2A, until 7 January 2024, www.soane.org