2-970-230 - /Heritage Images

The Peace Commemoration - the Fireworks in Hyde-Park and the Green-Park, sketched from Kensington-Gardens, [London], 1856. Celebrating the end of the Crimean War. [The display] '...comprised almost everything that is either new, curious, or beautiful in pyrotechny...The stars, hoops, and crosses elicited the most enthusiastic expressions of delight...Those rockets which, exploding in the air, threw out clusters of coloured stars were also much admired; while loud cheering arose from all sides when a number of shells, discharged together, burst far above the heads of the spectators, changing into graceful and glittering forms which charmed the eye and filled the air with light. Cascades, fountains, and trees were represented with wonderful exactness; and perhaps one of the most beautiful features of the display was the formation in the air of sheaves of yellow corn'. From "Illustrated London News", 1856.