A Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall-Mall

A Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall-Mall

Thomas Rowlandson

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Men and women here walk along Pall Mall, amazed at the sight of a new type of lighting. In 1802 coal gas began to be used to light shops and factories. In 1807, a German called Winsor raised £50,000 to brighten Pall Mall in a speculation that failed. Triple flames, called cockspur lights, are seen here flickering infront of an elegant screen of columns that Nash built for the Prince Regent.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

A Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall-MallA Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall-MallA Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall-MallA Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall-MallA Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall-Mall

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.