Printed papers

We have reproduced original Victorian hand-coloured prints on good quality 100 gsm paper suitable for display, wrapping, book covers, collage or even for performing toy theatre plays. Most of the sheets measure 700 x 480 mm.

The favourite is our Pantomime Characters sheet, with its riotous array of Clowns and Pantaloons, the mainstays of theatre fun and frolics from the time of Jane Austen and the origin of today’s pantomime traditions.

Three of the plays published by Benjamin Pollock make up part of the range – the familiar tale of Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, the miniature version of The Battle of Waterloo that was enacted with live horses on the London stage, and the delightful fantasy pantomime of Jack the Giant Killer, with some familiar scenes of 1840s London.

The others in the set include two of the magnificent stage fronts published in the 1850s by Mr Pollock’s father-in-law, John Redington, which can be mounted on card and used to frame a stage or picture, or simply enjoyed as they are. These sheets measure 700 x 420 mm.

Celia Ward’s Moldavian New Year Costumes is something rather different – a touching portrayal of costumes worn for a night of masquerade and revelry, as observed by a visiting English artist.

If you are purchasing printed papers in order to put on a toy theatre performance, the Museum's website provides two sets of free PDF instructions to help you build your toy theatre and a video with tips on performing a toy theatre show.