The Opera Boxes During the Time of the Great Exhibition? 1851

George Cruikshank made this engraving, "The Opera Boxes During the Time of the Great Exhibition!" using the traditional technique of etching a metal plate. This was a skilled, labor-intensive process, involving coating a metal plate with wax, drawing the design, and then using acid to bite the exposed lines before printing. Cruikshank has captured the social scene of London's elite, not at the Great Exhibition itself, but in the opera boxes. What we see here is not necessarily high art, but a reflection of the consumerist culture that the Great Exhibition celebrated. The detailed work involved in creating such prints was part of a wider economic system, where art and craft were increasingly commodified. The print’s small scale belies the immense detail and labor involved, mirroring the broader tension between the opulence on display and the often unseen labor that made it all possible. The very act of creating and consuming prints like these reflects the shifting boundaries between art, craft, and commerce in 19th-century society.