Optical toy Vue Perspective

Beautiful optical view of St. Bride's church london in the 18th century. In the background St' Paul's. This print dates back to around 1770 and is 250 years old. Probably published by Georg Balthasar Probst (1732-1801) who was the most important optical printer in the 18th century. These beautiful etched or engraved prints were usually hand colored. Some of them are even made to be illuminated. This means that the contours of buildings, windows and stars are perforated with dots and figures to be viewed in Day and Night vision. . On the back of the print a piece of translucent and waxed paper is pasted. On top of this the holes are colored. When held in front of the light you get the illusion of a city or landscape by night, like a magic lantern. This Print " Vue de l' Hotel de ville de Paris “ in Paris is a good example of such an illuminated version. Small pieces missing on the back. Size is 45 x 30 cm overall.