Side Wings to Suit any Play, Plate 7 for a Toy Theater
1870–90
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 6 11/16 × 8 7/16 in. (17 × 21.4 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1952
Accession Number
52.541.1(24)
Art Historical Context
Step into the whimsical world of toy theaters with Benjamin Pollock's *Side Wings to Suit any Play, 7 for a Toy* (1870–90). This charming lithograph, measuring just 6 11/16 × 8 7/16 inches (17 × 21.4 cm), served as a versatile scenery component—side wings that could frame any dramatic scene on a child's miniature stage. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Drawings and Prints, it comes from The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, through the Elisha Whittelsey Fund in 2. In 19th-century Britain, toy theaters were a popular pastime for middle-class families, turning homes into intimate playhouses....