‘Other People’s Windows’, by George Pinwell (1842

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Other People’s Windows

George Pinwell

Engraved by W. Thomas

1867

Wood-engraving

6 x 4¾ inches

Illustration for The Quiver, 2 February 1867, p.305.

Pinwell’s capacity to point to the social and psychological distance between the classes is represented in the disconnectedness of the characters, with one group walking out of the frame to the left while the working-class children mill around and look at each (and the viewer) with no obvious purpose. [Continued below]

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

The overall effect is a strange combination of social realism and a dreamy sense of pointlessness, as if there is no connection between individuals and classes; though set in the country, the image suggests the dislocations of urban living, and provides a critique, inscribed within the most innocuous of scenes, of Victorian society as a whole.

Scanned image and text by Simon Cooke. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Bibliography

The Quiver. London: Cassell, Petter, and Galpin, 1867.

Last modified 6 May 2013